


Fantasy

by Xenobia



Series: Sugar Daddy [2]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Drama, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Manipulation, Eventual Happy Ending, Gay Sex, Humor, Light Bondage, M/M, Modern Setting, Mystery, Past Relationship(s), Reincarnation, Romance, Sex Toys, Sugar Daddy, Twinks, Violence, eruri - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-10
Updated: 2017-09-10
Packaged: 2018-12-13 18:07:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 10
Words: 79,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11765463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xenobia/pseuds/Xenobia
Summary: Levi hasn't been able to get Erwin out of his thoughts since their one-night stand. In the interest of making a fresh start and figuring out what he wants, he tries to avoid making that one phone call that he knows would put an end to his frustration and loneliness. Erwin patiently waits for him as promised, but misunderstandings and ex lovers threaten to cause a rift between them and spoil their chance to be with each other. Follows "One Night", part 2 of the "Sugar Daddy" series.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [FrostStick](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrostStick/gifts).



> This one flowed well, so I waited to complete all chapters before I started publishing. Expect updates at or near the end of each week. I'll also be working on other WIP's that need updating, but hopefully this will make up for the delay a bit. This story is dedicated to my friend Froststick, who has been so supportive of me during this difficult time in my life.

"Levi, we're out of kava again and my hands are full!"

The young man looked at his coworker, caught in the middle of preparing a hookah for one of the customers sitting outside in the patio. He sighed. They were short on staff again, and tonight it was just him, Kylie and Rick.

"I've got it," Levi assured, finishing up lighting the coal for the hookah. He slid it over to the couple that requested it, and then he ducked behind the outdoor bar to unlock the kava stash. The color of the lock box was the exact same color blue as a certain handsome gentleman's eyes, and Levi stared dully at it for a moment. Squatting there, he found himself thinking of the last time he'd seen Erwin Smith.

"God, that man can fuck," whispered the bartender to himself. He shook his head, trying to banish thoughts of how many times Erwin's erotic attentions tore screams of pleasure from his throat. Maybe he was giving the man too much credit, though. Surely Erwin's cock piercing had something to do with it. The damned thing had stroked his prostate with every thrust and...

"Yo, Levi! I've got five orders backed up in here!"

Levi twisted to his feet, shooting an annoyed look at Rick as the spiked, dark blond head disappeared back behind the door leading out to the patio. Rick was possibly the only coworker with the stones to talk to Levi that way. Everyone else was too scared to boss him around. Rick was about to learn a very hard lesson...a lesson he was actually overdue on learning because Levi had been too preoccupied with thoughts of an older man that he just couldn't get out of his mind.

Levi went into the building to make up another batch of the kava, trying to keep his thoughts off of Erwin. It had been a month since they last saw each other. A month since Levi had woken up in Erwin's bed after a night of unintended passion. He'd broken up with his boyfriend on that day, but he still suffered inward guilt over waiting until _after_ he fucked Erwin to do it. Never mind that Jackson had been emotionally abusive and the breakup was a long time in coming.

Levi smirked as he thought of the way Erwin had decked Jackson in the parking lot upon seeing him trying to manhandle him. He wasn't the sort to need defending, but damn it had felt good to see his tall blond handsome crush knock the sense out of Jackson. That, coupled with Erwin's earlier statement that he would never neglect him if they were together, had blown away the last of Levi's resolve not to act on his attraction.

Now he couldn't get him out of his head, even though he hadn't seen Erwin since their encounter. Levi could have taken him as his new lover the very morning after, if Erwin's words were to be believed. He'd chosen not to, though. He'd declined the man's offer, determined to get his head leveled out before committing to anyone again.

Levi sorely regretted not accepting the handsome blond executive's offer. He missed Erwin. He could end his loneliness with a single phone call. He had Erwin's number, he could just...

As Levi absently finished prepping the next batch of kava and dragged the container out behind the inside bar, the very subject on his mind came walking in as if summoned by his tormented thoughts. His stomach did an interesting little flip and his breath caught at the sight of Erwin Smith's tall form stepping through the main door of the tea bar. Coming up behind Erwin was Hange Zoë. The memory of Erwin was nothing compared to seeing him in the flesh again. Levi nearly dropped the keg of tea he'd just made. Hange still came in at least once a week, but Erwin had been scarce.

Their eyes met, and that shock of powerful recognition and need went through Levi from the nape of his neck to his tailbone again.

"Shit," muttered the bartender, stunned all over again. He wanted to leap over the bar and embrace Erwin, pat him down and ensure himself that he was real.

"Oh wow, Mr. Smith!" exclaimed Kylie upon seeing the businessman. She glanced sideling at Levi, knowing better than to approach one of his favorite customers out of turn. "I guess you've got them, right, Levi?"

"Yeah, I've got 'em," he answered. His heart was pounding so fast it was a wonder it hadn't cracked his ribcage yet.

* * *

Erwin was likewise suffering an attack of pure longing. He kept his gaze pinned on Levi as the diminutive, raven-haired bartender approached. He couldn't take his eyes off of him, and the habit Levi had apparently gotten into of wearing cut-off shorts wasn't helping a bit. Erwin swallowed a couple of times as he salivated, and he accidentally stepped on Hange's foot.

"Ow!"

The startled yelp reminded him of his companion, and Erwin cast an apologetic glimpse her way. "Sorry."

Hange hopped up on one of the barstools, and she rubbed her smarting foot through the boot. "I should have kept my distance. I knew you'd get hit with the stupidity bat as soon as you laid eyes on your little honey again."

A rush of heat filled Erwin's face. Indeed, it had been a long time since he'd last laid eyes on Levi. His desire to see him again was really the only reason he'd gone along with Hange's invitation to have a tea after work.

"He's not 'my honey'," insisted the blond in a low voice, though he suspected his words rang hollow. Hange was far too observant for her own good, and she'd picked up on the chemistry between them right away.

"Not with the way you're doing it," she muttered. For Levi, she provided a broad smile. "Hey there, grumpy tea server! We were in the neighborhood and thought we'd drop by. I'll have a Blue Caterpillar, and Erwin...well, you know what _he_ likes."

Levi's silvery gaze flicked to Erwin. "Yeah, I know what he likes."

Erwin's flush deepened. Maybe Levi didn't mean for his comment to sound so...sexually charged, but he immediately thought of the way Levi's mouth had fit around his cock the night they'd had sex. Erwin was forced to look away, because the temptation to reach over that bar, cup the back of Levi's head and draw his lips to his was too strong.

"Yes, he knows what I like."

"Why is it I feel like I need a chainsaw to cut through the sexual tension in this room right now?" mused Hange.

"Quiet," muttered Erwin, seeing Levi's face go from pale ivory to bright pink. "Levi, I'll have my usual if you don't mind."

"Coming right up," said Levi coolly. His eyes were the only thing that gave away his consternation. Most people weren't likely to notice it, but Erwin did. He dearly hoped the source of it wasn't from distaste over him showing up.

Levi prepared the drinks, and he met Erwin's gaze again as he slid his mug over to him. "Haven't seen you around lately. Have you gone off your tea kick?"

Erwin shook his head. "No, I've just been very busy with work."

_~I've been purposely swamping myself with it to keep my mind off you.~_

Levi nodded, and despite his casual words, Erwin imagined that the look in his eyes said he'd been missing him. Perhaps it was just wishful thinking on his part, though. Levi had his number. If he missed him, he could have called him up at any time to at least chat.

"Well, it's a two-for-one special right now," said Levi, "so you only owe half for these drinks."

"Is it?" Hange looked around with interest. "I didn't see any signs. Did you change your happy hour times or something?"

Levi shrugged. "Something like that. I'll be right back with your receipt."

He took Erwin's credit card and went to ring it up, and the observant blond noticed that Levi took his thin wallet out of the back pocket of his pants and deposited some money in the cash register. Realizing what had just happened, Erwin was touched. It wasn't happy hour at all; Levi just covered one of their drinks for them. That meant he still thought of Erwin, and that was a good sign.

* * *

Levi definitely thought of Erwin more than the blond could guess. Seeing him again in the flesh made it even harder for Levi to concentrate on his work duties, and when he and Hange finished their beverages and left, it brought conflicting feelings of relief and regret to Levi. He finished his shift and went straight home to work on his latest term paper. He took some B-12 to help his concentration, and somehow he finished it and got it sent off by midnight.

His success in that little endeavor didn't help him to feel much better. Levi sat cross-legged on his brown, microfiber couch with his tablet in his lap. He absently searched the web, and somehow he ended up on a gay dating site browsing through applicants. Levi wasn't sure what he was looking for or if he even intended to look anyone up if they caught his eye. He supposed some part of him was hoping to find a man around Erwin's age with blond hair and blue eyes. He wasn't likely to find a party that matched Erwin in looks. The notion of trying to find a substitute for Erwin was a fleeting one, and he rolled his eyes at his own actions, wondering how he came to this.

If he wanted Erwin, he should just call him. He shouldn't be even thinking of looking up some stranger on the net. That shit was dangerous. Just recently, there'd been a news story about a gay-hating maniac using one of these sites to lure young men into his clutches, and he killed five guys around Levi's age before the police finally tracked him down and got him in custody. Plus, online dating had been how Levi met Jackson, and that relationship—while lasting for over two years—had ended in disaster.

"What am I doing?" muttered Levi to himself with a sigh. This wasn't the way to salve his loneliness or get a sexual fix. Besides, Erwin was the first one-night stand Levi had ever had. It wasn't in his nature to make a habit of that, and condoms weren't guaranteed proof against sexually transmitted diseases.

He was about to close the web page when he spotted a profile picture of a familiar looking man. He narrowed his eyes and clicked on it, and lo and behold; there was his ex. It looked like Jackson was in the market for another twinkie.

" _'Seeking young, attractive male companion who likes older men,'_ " read Levi aloud as he scanned Jackson's profile. " _'Non-smokers preferred. I'm a successful businessman who's generous with gifts and in the bedroom.'_ "

Levi snorted. The first part was true enough, but as for the second part, not so much. Not that he'd been a bad lover—even if Jackson hadn't been as adventurous as Erwin was. He was just never there by the end of the relationship. Levi considered leaving a comment warning other young men away from him.

_"He's controlling, he's neglectful and even though he feels free to date other people, he gets jealous if he thinks his boyfriends have an eye for someone else. Do yourselves a favor and steer clear."_

Levi's fingers hovered over the keypad, itching to type what he'd just said aloud. He shook his head and decided against it. Jackson would know exactly who wrote it if he left that comment. He would just delete it and call Levi up to bitch at him. He might even threaten legal action against him for "internet defamation" or some such shit. Levi didn't need that sort of drama in his life, and the other people browsing this site were adults capable of making their own decisions. Hopefully their breakup was enough of a wake up call to get Jackson to reconsider how he treated his boyfriends and he was turning over a new leaf, but Levi doubted that.

"Looks like it's just me and you tonight," Levi informed his hands.

He powered down his tablet, shut it and got up to go and have a shower. He closed his eyes as he let the water drum down on his head and shoulders, thinking of Erwin again. They'd had sex in the businessman's rather extravagant shower that night. Levi vividly recalled those large, strong hands on his body, soaping him up and fondling him. He imagined Erwin's hot breath on the back of his neck, the feel of his substantial length entering him from behind and the curved metal barbell of his cock piercing tickling his prostate.

He could practically feel Erwin's warmth against him, feel his slick, hard body shifting against his. Levi wished he'd thought to get out his vibrator, but he was too worked up right now to pause his shower, go get it and prep himself. He settled for using his imagination and jerking himself off. He gasped Erwin's name as his fisted hand moved rapidly up and down, slippery with soap.

"Nnnhh...Erwin," groaned the dark-haired man, resting his forehead against the cool tiles of the shower wall.

_"Levi,"_ he thought he heard the deep, husky voice respond.

It was so intense. Levi had never fantasized so vividly before. He'd always been somewhat lacking in the imagination department, but ever since fucking Erwin Smith, he couldn't seem to stop daydreaming about him. It didn't take much longer for Levi to finish himself off, and he leaned forward against the wall, propping one forearm on it as he caught his breath. His mind went to Erwin's warmth and kindness after their encounter. The man had been so patient with him, even after Levi turned down his offer to start dating. Most guys wouldn't have taken such rejection so graciously.

_~He'd asked me to smile for him before I left his place. That's all he wanted, but I couldn't even give him that much. Maybe Jackson was right and I_ am _an ungrateful brat.~_

But even if Jackson thought that way, Levi didn't think Erwin did. Then again, maybe he seemed so mellow when he came into the tea bar because he was over it. Maybe Erwin had found someone else and just given up on him. The thought made Levi's throat tighten and gave him a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach.

* * *

"Erwin, I couldn't stay away. Seeing you at the tea bar tonight reminded me of how great that night we had together was."

Erwin didn't question Levi's sudden appearance at his door. It didn't occur to him to question the reality of this visit. He held the door open for his visitor, staring down at him hungrily as the smaller man came in. Erwin shoved the door closed as Levi put his arms around his neck and drew him down for an erotic, eager kiss. The blond cupped his visitor's ass and lifted him up, pinning him against the door as he'd done the last time.

"I've been praying for this moment," confessed Erwin, "hoping with all my might that you would come around and give me a chance."

"It was stupid of me to risk letting this go," panted Levi. His thighs squeezed Erwin's waist tightly, and he slid one hand down to cup the bulge between the older man's legs. "I've been hungry for this. Can't get you out of my mind."

Further impassioned by Levi's admission, Erwin ground against the palm feeling him up, a low growl surfacing in his throat. "You really turn me on. What kind of underwear have you got on under these shorts?"

"None," informed Levi, his voice a seductive drone. "Figured I wouldn't need any tonight."

"Good call," approved Erwin, "but I would like to buy you a sexy thong sometime. I want you to wear it on our first date so that I can use my teeth to pull it off later on."

"Mmm, I'd like that." Levi's hand molded more firmly around the shape of Erwin's arousal, rubbing it skillfully through his pants. "Is this all mine, Erwin?"

"Yes," gasped the older man. "Yours alone, Levi. I can't even look at anyone else without comparing them to you, and I always find them lacking."

"I'd say I'm sorry, but I'd be lying." Levi nibbled Erwin's lips, his hand stroking faster still, with more friction.

"L-Levi," rasped Erwin, rocking into his touch urgently, "you're going to make me come."

"Then come," encouraged the smaller man. "I know it won't take too long for an encore. I can wait, and I've missed seeing your orgasm face."

Erwin fought back a groan. He traced Levi's busy lips with the tip of his tongue, breathless with greedy lust. Nobody except Levi could get him this excited, this fast. He was quickly losing control, and Levi's stroking was relentless. Erwin nuzzled Levi's throat, leaving a damp trail on the skin. Humping the determined bartender's hand, Erwin let himself go and fell into it.

"Hah...ah, god," groaned Erwin when he pulsed under Levi's hand, the heat and pressure reaching a bursting point. Levi's fingers curled into his hair to tug his head back, and his mouth covered Erwin's in a kiss. The blond's heart was pounding hard, his chest heaving with his gasps of release.

And then he woke up.

Erwin was completely disoriented at first, and he was reaching out to thin air where Levi should have been. He was alone in his bed, and his underwear was suspiciously sticky. Erwin reached out to click the lamp on its lowest setting. He pulled the covers aside and tugged down his underwear. He sighed when he confirmed that he'd had a nocturnal emission. It had only been a dream. This would be the third time since meeting Levi that this happened to him. He thought wet dreams of this magnitude were a thing of the past, something he left behind in his college years. Apparently he was wrong about that.

Erwin had Levi's phone number. It had taken some digging, but he eventually found the right Ackerman in the directory after five failed attempts. He knew he had the right number when he got Levi's voice mail and heard his voice. Thankfully, Erwin had been smart enough to use the company phone line to test it so that Levi wouldn't recognize his number.

Erwin got out of bed to clean up and change into fresh underwear. His gaze fell on the mobile phone resting by the art deco lamp on his bedside table. Erwin finished pulling on the clean pair of blue designer boxer briefs, and he scratched his chin.

What was the point of having someone's number if he was never going to use it? It had been a month since Levi broke things off with Jackson. Surely that was an appropriate enough amount of time to wait. They could start out small with a trip to the beach or a movie, and work their way from there. They didn't have to have sex or do anything intensely romantic. Just spending time with Levi again and having the opportunity to convince him he was worth considering would be enough for a start.

Erwin started to reach for the phone, but he wavered. Levi had said he wanted to find himself before he thought about dating again. If he wanted Erwin to have his number, he would have given it himself. He might not take it very well to find out Erwin looked up his number after Levi declined to give it to him. He might see it as stalker behavior, and Erwin didn't want to scare him off.

With a heavy sigh, the blond got back into bed. Sleep was a long time coming for him.

* * *

A week came and went since Erwin's latest appearance at the tea bar. Despite himself, Levi kept hoping the blond would show up again. When the end of the weekend approached without any sign of Erwin, Levi was forced to accept the probability that Erwin had indeed hooked up with someone else and thus had no motivation for coming to Levi's place of work.

It was a depressing thought. Imagining his blond Adonis with some other man caused an ugly feeling to well up within Levi; a feeling he wasn't accustomed to experiencing. Not even when Jackson went on the occasional date with another party did Levi feel it as acutely as he did now.

_~How can I be so jealous over a guy that isn't even mine?~_

He finished up his shift, and he decided he needed to go out. He was spending all of his time at work, at the gym or at home doing college assignments. It was time to do a little socializing. Maybe if he got hammered enough he could find a guy that looked enough like Erwin to pretend. He could take him home with him, scratch his itch and get by for a little longer. He reasoned that he only wanted Erwin so bad because he didn't have him. There were certain rebound rules to live by in his situation, and one of them was not to jump into anything too soon after a breakup. He'd made that mistake a couple of boyfriends ago, before he got involved with Jackson.

Of course, it didn't help that Levi and Erwin had more common interests than he would have initially thought. He'd had virtually nothing in common with Jackson, and they lasted for a good while. Erwin had similar tastes in movies, he enjoyed reading and exercise, and they both had an interest in the military. Erwin even served overseas when he was a little younger than Levi, during the conflict with the east. Levi himself had only gone through ROTC in highschool, and the only reason he never enlisted in the army was because his mother begged him not to. That was how they lost Levi's father, after all. Kuchel didn't want to risk losing her son the same way if they ever went to war again. That was why Levi was taking online courses now instead of serving in the armed forces.

"Hey Levi, there's a phone call for you," called the establishment owner.

Levi frowned briefly, wondering who would be calling the business line to get in touch with him. He took a quick break to take the phone call in the break room so he could hear over the music, and he was surprised to find that it was his old friend Farlan from high school.

"Hey bro! How's the barista life treating you?"

Levi sat down on the recliner, smiling ever-so-slightly. "Farlan, it's been a long time."

"Yeah, I just got back into town yesterday," answered the other man. "I'd have told you I was moving back home, but I wanted to surprise you."

"Why didn't you call my cell or text me? We're not supposed to take personal calls on this line."

"Sorry about that," apologized Farlan. "The number I had was disconnected. You must have gotten a new number since the last time we talked. I looked up the Cheshire Grin in the directory so I could touch bases with you."

"Oh yeah," recalled Levi. "I changed carriers a few months ago. No wonder I haven't heard from you. I just figured you've been too busy to call."

"Well, I still have the same number," reminded Farlan. "You could have called me, you know."

"Yeah." Levi took the chastisement in stride. "I've had a lot going on myself. Broke things off with Jackson last month and I've been dealing with the aftermath of that, along with work and studies."

"Shit, I'm sorry to hear that about Jackson. You seemed pretty happy with him, last time I saw you together."

Levi's brows furrowed. _Had_ he seemed happy? He supposed at one point he must have been. The last time Farlan came south for a visit had been a year ago, and things had been better then. Sometimes it was hard for him to remember the good times with Jackson, before the heat died down and the man started trying to groom him to become someone he wasn't.

The thought made Levi realize something else, too: grooming was _exactly_ what Jackson had been doing with him. Levi had taken an elective in psychology just to earn more credits toward his architecture degree. One of the subjects of study was social and domestic manipulation, and he remembered some of the material stressing that domestic abuse often didn't start with fists. Some people were so insidious that their victims often didn't realize they were being mentally and emotionally manipulated until it was too late.

The more he thought about it, the more obvious it became to Levi. Jackson had wanted him for his body and his looks, but after the first stage of their romance, perhaps sometime around their six month anniversary, he'd started to subtly mold Levi's behavior into something more tractable. He got him to gradually change the way he dressed, especially when Levi went out on the town. He called all the shots, deciding when and how they had sex. Jackson even talked Levi into thinking about quitting his job and applying for work at his company. Maybe in Jackson's eyes he was only trying to better Levi, but it was still manipulative all the same...and Levi had taken the bait hook, line and sinker.

And it wasn't until that day when Jackson tried to drag Levi into the car to take him home to change that Levi even had a clue.

"Yo Levi, are you still there buddy?"

Levi inhaled sharply, anger coloring his cheeks. "Son of a bitch."

"Whoa, what'd I say?" demanded Farlan.

"Not you," explained Levi, "Jackson. I just realized how much control he had over me by the end. Look, I can't go into it right now, but are you free later? My shift ends in an hour. You could come and have a kava with me or something, and I'll explain everything."

"Sure. You've got me curious now. I'll catch a ride there as soon as I get cleaned up and changed."

"Cool, I'll see you then," said Levi.

"Wait," demanded Farlan. "Text me when you get the chance, all right? I need to add your new number to my contact list."

"Right. I'll do that in a couple of minutes. Talk to you soon, Farlan."

* * *

Farlan arrived at the tea bar as promised, and Levi finished prepping for the next shift before clocking out and joining him. It was a slow business day, so they didn't have to worry about being crowded as they went out on the patio to smoke and have their tea. First they talked about their friend Isabel, who was like a little sister to both of them. She'd moved up north with Farlan to go to veterinary school. Apparently she was in her final year now.

"She's already gotten offers to join a couple of practices around town," explained Farlan. "As for me, I'm sick of the factory so I came back home to try taking that bartending course I've been thinking about. Isabel said she might move back down here too once she finishes school and gets her degree."

"Then I'll keep an eye out for any vet openings in the area," promised Levi. "Are you staying with your folks or renting somewhere?"

"With my parents, for now. I thought about asking you, but I know you've only got one bedroom so I didn't want to crowd you."

"I'd have let you crash at my place for a while." Levi shrugged. "I've still got that couch that folds out into a bed that you and Isabel slept on that time you came down for spring break."

"Oh yeah. Well, I might come stay a couple of nights some time just to get away from the folks, then. I just figured you were still pretty serious with Jackson, so I didn't want to be the third wheel."

"Even if I was still with him, I'd be staying at his place if we spent the night together, so you wouldn't be in the way. Jackson never stayed at my apartment."

"Too small for him?" guessed Farlan after having a sip of his kava.

"Yeah. He was kind of a snob, now that you mention it." Levi also remembered that he was insufferably jealous. Maybe it would have been a problem for Farlan to come and stay at his place, after all. Not that it mattered now.

"Hmph. You should steer clear of these rich guys from now on. They don't suit you."

Levi begged to disagree with that. He knew of at least one financially prosperous gentleman that suited him just fine and would probably never have a problem with the size of his apartment. He kept Erwin out of the conversation, though.

"Things were good with me and Jackson the last time you were here, but that all changed."

"So I figured," answered Farlan. "What happened, Levi? Isabel's been waiting to hear engagement news, she was so sure you'd found 'the one'."

"Well, she's wrong. Jackson hardly had any time for me this year, and he started getting pretty controlling. He dated other people sometimes, too. If you want to know the truth, I was a kept man with him."

Farlan blinked. "Uh, you didn't tell us that part."

Levi shrugged. "I didn't want to see the look on Isabel's face. My mom doesn't know either, so don't mention it in front of her if you go and see her."

"Of course I won't," promised the blond. "I'm just surprised to hear you'd go for that kind of arrangement."

"I didn't expect it to turn into that kind of arrangement," confessed Levi with a sigh. He stirred his drink and had a sip of it. "I didn't even expect it to be long-term. I figured we'd just date casually, maybe fuck a few times and then move on. I might have dumped him sooner, but then I ran into some financial trouble and Jackson covered me. After that...shit, I guess I used him as much as he used me."

"No, he _trapped_ you," insisted Farlan with a scowl. "He knew what the hell he was doing, I'll bet. Especially given what you've just told me about how he started treating you. He saw you as his boy toy, Levi, and correct me if I'm wrong, but you probably felt obligated to stay with him after he helped you out with your money problems."

Levi shrugged again, bitterly ashamed of himself. "I just didn't want to go to my mom about it, and you and Isabel already had your own financial problems."

"I get that, but Levi..." Farlan leaned closer, lowering his voice and staring into the shorter man's eyes seriously. "If you ever get in trouble again, come to us. You know we won't judge you, and I'd rather loan you money myself than see you get caught up in another Jackson situation. I'd like to deck the guy and I hardly know him."

"I'll keep that in mind," promised Levi.

Farlan was still staring at him, and a familiar feeling of wariness crept up Levi's spine. His instincts were right; Farlan started closing in for a kiss. Levi shook his head and leaned back, retreating from his friend's attempted interaction.

"Farlan, not this again."

The blond stopped his advance with a sigh and a rueful smirk. "I know; I'm too young for you."

"You're too much of a friend for me," corrected Levi. "I've dated guys my own age before."

"Never me, though."

Levi tilted his head, not backing down. He'd made the mistake of kissing Farlan in a drunken moment, one New Year's Eve. It happened a couple of years after they graduated high school, and both Levi and Farlan had been single at the time. When the ball dropped and people around them exchanged kisses according to tradition, Levi didn't see any harm in it. Neither of them had dates to kiss, so why not?

"I thought you were straight," reminded Levi, feeling a fresh wave of guilt. "In fact, I thought you'd freak out and push me away. Never thought you'd stick your tongue down my throat."

"Well, I never expected you to kiss me," excused the blond. "I lost it when you did. I thought you knew I was bi."

"I'm terrible at picking up on these things," confessed Levi. "Usually a guy has to come onto me before I figure it out, unless he just comes out and tells me he's into guys. Hey, I never meant to lead you on."

Making out in a dark corner with Farlan afterwards was a huge error. Luckily they'd both passed out before it went any further than that, though.

"But how can that be?" pressed Farlan. "You were always the most perceptive of us. How can I tell better if someone's gay than you can?"

Levi clicked his tongue. "Tch, I'll tell you a little secret I don't part with often. Do you remember Bobby Preston from school?"

"The Drama Club guy? Yeah, I remember. He's not easy to forget."

Levi nodded in agreement. Bobby had plenty of admirers of both genders with his dark good looks and that accent he used to have. "Well, remember that dance I took Isabel 'cause she didn't have a date and you were sick with the flu?"

"Oh yeah, the Homecoming dance." Farlan nodded. "You never told me how that went."

"That's because it sucked beyond the telling of it," answered Levi. "Bobby was there, and I got the wrong vibe from him. I always figured he was gay because...well, Drama Club, good hygiene and he never made out with his dates when I saw him out with girls."

"But he wasn't gay," guessed Farlan with a pitying look at him.

"Not in the slightest." Levi grimaced. "I thought maybe he was a closet case, so I cornered him behind the stage and laid one on him."

Farlan chuckled, and Levi popped him on the back of the head. "Oi, it's not funny, asshole. It was kind of horrifying in fact. I had this idea in my head that he'd been casting glances at me all night, so I figured if I could just kiss him, he'd come clean and go out with me. He acted like I threw scalding water on him instead. Told me not to touch him again and not to tell anyone what happened. Maybe he was gay after all and he just didn't like me, I don't know."

"No, I can assure you that Bobby Preston's straight," said Farlan. "He had a thing for Isabel, so if you were dancing with her, he was probably looking at her and not you. If he _was_ looking at you it was probably with envy."

Levi raised a brow. "He had a thing for Isabel? You're not bullshitting me, are you?"

"Not at all. He asked her out on her senior year. You and I were out of high school and working at the movie theater at the time, if I remember right. She went on a few dates with him after that, but it didn't last because he bored her."

"Huh. I never knew that." Levi felt a little better about being rejected by the guy. "All this time I've been wondering about whether he turned me down because he was straight or because I personally repulsed him."

Farlan shook his head. "Believe me, if anyone could flip a straight guy with a kiss, it's you. I wasn't sure I was bisexual until you laid a wet one on me at that party."

The reminder of that particular error brought another frown to the smaller male's lips. "Like I said; I didn't mean to lead you on. That's part of why I usually prefer to let others make the first move. I don't trust my intuition when it comes to who's gay and who's straight. I figured you and I would just get a laugh out of that kiss, not make out the way we did."

Of course, he _had_ been the one to make the first move on Erwin...but only after he got confirmation the man was gay and he couldn't stand trying to hide his attraction any longer. Levi had also made the first move with Jackson, but that had been after seeing his profile on the dating site. Levi never initiated the first kiss though, not since his crash and burn with Bobby and his later mistake with Farlan.

"You can't blame a guy for trying," said Farlan with a shrug. "I figured it was worth a shot since you're single again, but I guess you've made up your mind and I'm doomed to the friend zone."

"Sorry," muttered Levi, truly regretful for any hurt he'd caused the other man.

"It's okay," consoled Farlan. "I knew it was a long shot, even if you're over Jackson. So, is there anyone new in your life yet? I didn't even think to ask you that first."

Levi hesitated, again thinking of Erwin. He wasn't about to add insult to injury and tell Farlan he'd had a one-night stand with some blond before he even broke up with Jackson.

"No, there's nobody else." And that was true enough. "I'm trying to figure out where my life is heading before I start fishing for another boyfriend."

Farlan nodded slowly. "That's a smart idea. Hey, why do you look so glum all the sudden? Cheer up." He put an arm around Levi and gave him a friendly, supportive squeeze. "You aren't still sweating that thing I tried to do, are you? It's okay, bro. I shouldn't have tried to come onto you like that. It hasn't been very long since you broke up with your ex and you're probably still getting over him. That was my bad, not yours. He might have turned out to be a dick, but you were with him for a long time."

Levi shrugged. His ex wasn't even on his mind. Erwin was, and the ache of longing in his heart just wouldn't seem to go away. He leaned against Farlan, and he dropped his head on the taller man's shoulder in an uncommon gesture of comfort-seeking.

"Sometimes we just can't have what we want," Levi murmured.

Farlan rubbed his shoulder, and he rested his cheek against the crown of Levi's head. "Yeah. I'm glad you were strong enough to break away from him, though. You're strong; you'll make it."

* * *

That was the scene Erwin witnessed when he showed up for a kava and started to go outside to the patio after being told Levi was out there. He froze with the door partway open, watching as Levi cuddled with an unknown blond guy approximately his own age. Erwin stood there for a moment, uncertain of what to do. He finally retreated to avoid an awkward situation, his face burning.

He couldn't decide if it was humiliation, jealousy or embarrassment that colored his cheeks. Perhaps a combination of all three. Erwin hurried to the bar, and he asked for a to-go cup to transfer his tea into. They did it for him, and he left the tea bar without a backwards glance. He couldn't seem to blink as he drove away, and he pulled over at a gas station when his eyes began to burn. He closed them and rubbed them, wondering why he was so emotionally invested in Levi.

Erwin had decided it was worth stopping by for the chance to have a few words alone with Levi. He didn't expect the younger man to have much free time to talk, but all Erwin intended to do was try and find out where he stood with him. He just wanted to give him a gentle reminder that he was still interested and he was still free. Now it seemed his opportunity had passed him by. Whoever that young man with him was, it was clear by their proximity and body language that they were on intimate terms.

"Damn it," stated Erwin. A part of him felt betrayed. He thought that if and when Levi felt ready to go out with someone again, he would be the first choice. He'd gotten his foot through the door, and Erwin foolishly believed he'd made a big enough impression to secure his spot at the head of the line. How wrong that assumption had turned out to be.

_~I should have known better. His last lover was my age, had a similar job and a similar lifestyle to my own. Why would Levi's first choice be a man so similar to his ex? Of course he would shy away from me and go for a younger lover.~_

Then his thoughts went in a different direction, a less charitable one. Levi had cheated on Jackson with him. If he would cheat on one man, he would cheat on another. Perhaps Erwin was better off not getting further involved with Levi. There was a saying that Erwin's mother used to say: 'Once a cheater, always a cheater'.

Granted, it was a tired cliché that often over-simplified complex situations. Erwin knew Levi hadn't been happy with Jackson, knew he wasn't getting treated right. His mind ping-ponged between blaming the young man and making excuses for him. He was torn, indecisive about how he should be looking at this whole thing.

"He isn't mine to be jealous of," reasoned the blond to himself. "He never made me any promises."

Levi had been honest with him as well. He hadn't shied away from confessing to him that he wasn't yet officially broken up with Jackson. He had no obligation to inform him of that, could have kept it to himself and left Erwin ignorant of it. He'd led Erwin to believe that it was the first time Levi had ever done anything like that. Perhaps it was disingenuous to label the young man as a "cheater". Maybe that encounter really was the first time Levi had ever strayed from a lover he'd committed to.

_~Or maybe his expressed feelings of regret were just an act to tug at my heart strings. He could have been playing me so that he could string me along until he decided who he wanted to be with.~_

Erwin shook his head at the thought immediately. No. He couldn't believe that of Levi. In his heart of hearts, he knew Levi was an honest man. He knew that as surely as he knew the sun would rise and set. He still couldn't explain why he trusted him so much, but whatever reason Levi had for blowing him off and choosing someone else, Erwin was certain deception wasn't a part of it.

That didn't help soothe the ache in his heart, though.

* * *

"Hey Levi, your boyfriend was here," announced Sandra when he and Farlan went back inside from the patio area.

Levi frowned in confusion at her, and Farlan gave him a puzzled look.

"I thought you said you broke up with him," said Farlan.

"I did. Oi, who are you talking about, Sandra?"

The curly-haired barista shrugged. "Blond guy. The tall one everyone stares at all the time."

"Erwin," supplied Jessie helpfully.

"Yeah, him."

"Oh." Levi cast a sidelong look at Farlan, uncomfortable with Erwin being referred to as his "boyfriend" by his coworkers. Sandra no doubt meant it teasingly, but Farlan might not pick up on that and Levi had just told him there was nobody romantically involved in his life right now.

"Erwin's a regular," explained Levi to his friend. "Or he was. He hasn't been around much, lately. So where'd he go, girls?"

"He left in a hurry," answered Jessie. "Maybe there was a sudden emergency? He seemed like he was going to drink his kava here, but then he asked for a to-go cup and took off all the sudden."

"He was heading outside to the patio to say hi to you," informed Sandra. She blew a bubble with her chewing gum and popped it before continuing: "Didn't even make it out the door, so I figured I'd let you know he was here."

"Weird," muttered Levi. He was pretty sure Erwin never went on call in his line of work, so it must have been something else. "I didn't even see him. I wonder what lit the fire under his ass."

"Erwin, huh?" Farlan considered the name. "He must like you a lot, if he went looking for you to say hi."

Levi chose his responsive words carefully. "I guess. He's used to me serving him though. Nice guy."

Sandra and Jessie exchanged a sly look between them.

"Ahem," said the former, "yeah, your service. That's what he was here for."

Levi's face warmed when Farlan raised a brow, catching on to their meaning. "Stop messing around. He probably just wanted to say a quick hello and have some tea. Probably remembered he had somewhere to be and had to take off. Come on, Farlan. Let's go get some food; I'm hungry."

* * *

-To be continued


	2. Chapter 2

Levi didn't see Erwin again at all after that. The man stopped coming to the Cheshire Grin altogether. Days and weeks went by, and Autumn was just around the corner. Hange still dropped in for a kava once or twice a week, but of Erwin, there were no further appearances. Levi was convinced that his previous suspicion about Erwin finding someone was correct. He must have gotten tired of waiting, and Levi didn't really blame him for that. He knew the frustration of waiting on someone without getting any satisfaction.

It hurt more than he wanted to admit. Of course a guy like that wasn't going to just wait around for him to declare himself out of the rebound danger zone. Erwin was an amazing catch, and Levi had already known the man had plenty of options besides him. He'd had his chance, and he'd blown it.

Levi finally confided in Farlan about it one night, when his restlessness and heartache became too much even for him to bear alone. They went to a sports bar down the street from Levi's apartment and sat down to talk over a pitcher of beer.

"So what's up, Levi?" Farlan poured them each a mug from the pitcher, and he slid Levi's over to him. "You said you needed to talk to me about something."

"Yeah." Bracing himself for outrage, Levi told him what happened between him and Erwin.

"I didn't plan on it," finished Levi softly. "I just wanted him to know how I felt. I wasn't thinking very rationally. I think maybe I was trying to see how he would react to hearing it before I finalized the breakup with Jackson. Next thing I knew, we were doing it."

Farlan's mouth was parted, and his hazel eyes were unfocused. "Uh...huh. So there _was_ someone else."

"No, not really," insisted Levi. "I'm not with Erwin. We just had a one night stand."

"But you wanted more," persisted the blond. "I know you, Levi. You wouldn't have shown up at his place to tell him that if you weren't hoping something would happen."

"Maybe subconsciously, on some level." Levi peered into the foamy mug sitting before him, trying to read answers in the froth. "I didn't want to cheat, though. That wasn't my goal."

"Let me ask you this," said Farlan softly, "do you think you would have still broken up with Jackson if this Erwin guy hadn't responded to you?"

Levi had been asking himself the same question. Farlan really did know him well. "I don't know for sure. Maybe not. If Erwin hadn't gone for it after I told him I liked him, I might have just written it off as a crush and tried to get over it."

"But you haven't been with Erwin since that night?"

Levi shook his head. "No. He told me he wanted me to look him up when I was ready to start dating someone again, but he never said anything else about it, and he went from a regular customer to a no-show. He doesn't even come to the tea bar anymore. I don't know what the fuck to do."

Farlan took a swallow of his beer. If he was feeling any rancor over Levi's revelation, he didn't show it. "He hasn't even called you?"

"I never gave him my number."

Farlan made a thoughtful sound. "But you've got his?"

"That's right."

Farlan rolled his eyes. "You always do this."

"Do what?" Levi frowned at him.

"You're so determined to keep people at a distance that you're afraid to make any effort. It drives them away."

Levi blinked at him, and his brows tightened. "Is that how you see me?"

"Let me tell you something," said the blond remorselessly. "If my other friends were as aloof as you are, I'd have ditched them by now. Me and Isabel are what keeps our friendship with you alive. It's always got to be us getting in touch with you. I can't remember the last time you called one of us up first."

The accusation stung, though Levi kept his expression neutral. "I've never been chatty. It isn't like we don't hang out when you guys are in town."

"Yes, but we're always the ones that come to you, not the other way around." Farlan leaned forward, holding Levi's gaze. "I'm not trying to bust your balls. I'm trying to help you see something I've noticed for a long time. If I didn't love you, I'd just keep my mouth shut about it and let you suffer, man."

"I suppose you're gonna try and tell me things went south with me and Jackson because I wasn't clingy enough," groused Levi.

"No, I really believe you tried with him," assured Farlan. "That was the first time I've ever seen you make such an effort in a relationship, Levi. I think maybe you even tried a little _too_ hard, and when all that energy you put into it didn't pay off, you fell back on old habits. I think Jackson spooked you and got you thinking you're better off not trying."

Levi thought carefully on his friend's words, and he couldn't find any fault in his observation no matter how much he wanted to. "So what are you saying? I scared Erwin off?"

Farlan shrugged. "I don't know the guy. I only know what you've told me about him. Maybe he was just blowing smoke up your ass when he said he wanted to go out with you sometime, but it sounds like he kept coming around for a while. If you haven't even called him up yet, he probably took that as a hint you aren't interested."

It made Levi a bit sick to his stomach. He'd wondered about that himself. "I guess that's it, then. I left him hanging too long and he's moved on."

"You could find out for sure with one phone call," suggested Farlan.

How many times had Levi wanted to pick up the phone and dial that contact number? He'd lost count. "I think it's too late for that."

"You won't know if you don't try." Farlan's gaze was earnest on him. "Levi, if nothing else it would give you some closure. You aren't the sort of guy to open up about things like this. You don't talk about your love life even with your close friends. The fact that you're doing it now tells me this is really weighing heavily on you."

Levi stayed silent, irresolute.

Farlan reached across the table and squeezed Levi's wrist. "You can do this, bro. Call that number. Tell him you haven't seen him at the tea bar and ask how he's doing. If he's dating someone, he'll probably let you know in the first five minutes."

It was humbling, this fear Levi felt. While he'd always been careful not to set himself up for disappointment, he had never experienced anything like this. It felt like more like an obsession than a crush to him. He'd thought having sex with Erwin would diminish it some, but that only served to make it worse. Levi didn't know if he could take it if Erwin rejected him or told him he was in a relationship with another.

"I'll think it over," he said.

* * *

The very next day, Hange informed Erwin that his presence was missed at the Cheshire Grin.

"Guess who asked after you the last time I stopped in there?" she asked him during their lunch break.

Erwin glanced up from the steamed dumplings he'd ordered from their favorite takeout place. "One of the girls?"

"Oh, they always ask about you." Hange waved it off. "But no, this time Levi even asked about you. How long has it been since you went there, big guy?"

Erwin couldn't fully hide his surprise. "Levi asked about me?"

"That's what I said." Hange opened a packet of sweet chili sauce and dribbled it over her mini spring rolls.

"What exactly did he ask?" Erwin found it hard to believe. If Levi had asked about him, it was probably just an off-hand comment he'd made while serving Hange.

"Hmm, I believe his exact words were: _'So where's Erwin been hiding? Did he go to take a dump and fall in, or what?'_ " Hange grinned. "The little guy loves the toilet humor."

That certainly sounded like Levi. Erwin smiled a little. "I haven't been there all month. How is he doing?"

Hange gazed at him shrewdly. "He looked pretty much the same to me. Why don't you drop by after work and see for yourself?"

"I'm staying away from the botanical tea for a while," excused Erwin. "I've found myself feeling a little queasy lately after drinking them."

"Hmm. They do have other beverages there, you know," she coaxed. "Snacks, too. Why not have some plain iced tea or coffee after work? You seemed to get really attached to the place for a while there, and you sure got along with Levi. He's single now, too."

Erwin eyed her subtly, and he swallowed the bite of food he'd taken. "Did he tell you this?"

"I overheard another customer ask Levi how his boyfriend was, and he said they'd been broken up since June. It must have been an old regular that hadn't been around for a while."

Erwin didn't allow the news to get his hopes up. "I knew about Jackson. He didn't mention being involved with anyone new?"

"Why?" Hange blinked at him. "Do you know something you haven't told me? Erwin, did you finally make a move on him? Is that why you don't go there all the time anymore, because you've been seeing him outside of work?"

"No, I haven't been seeing him." Erwin tried to keep his tone casual. He sprinkled some soy sauce on the rest of his dumplings, and he cut one in half. "I only ask because I saw him with someone the last time I went there. I assumed it must be a boyfriend because they seemed very affectionate with each other."

"Oh?" Hange looked a bit dismayed. "That's news to me. What did this guy look like?"

"Attractive. Dark blond hair, average height and build, low or mid-twenties, I'd say."

"So you got a pretty good look at him," guessed Hange. "What made you think he was romantically involved with Levi, though?"

Erwin shrugged. He put half a dumpling in his mouth, and he chewed thoughtfully before swallowing. "He had his arm around Levi, and Levi had his head on his shoulder."

He didn't mention how sickeningly sweet Levi had looked in that moment, or how it made Erwin ache inside to see him that way with another man.

"Oh no," Hange sighed. "Damn. I was really hoping...never mind."

"Hange, I'm fine," Erwin insisted, guessing where she'd been going. "I may have expressed some interest in Levi, but you've read too much into it, I think. He's easy on the eyes and pleasant company to be around, but I never entertained serious thoughts of dating him. I'm almost old enough to be his father."

"So what?" she pinched her chopsticks over one of her spring rolls and she picked it up, examining it. "Age difference never stopped you before, and Levi was dating a guy your age before. I really thought you two had potential."

"Well, we obviously don't." Erwin didn't have much of an appetite anymore, but he continued to eat anyway. His stomach felt like it had twisted into a knot. He was flat-out lying about having no interest in dating Levi. Hange probably knew it, too. "He's obviously out of my reach. I don't keep playing when I have a losing hand."

Erwin frowned at his own words, finding them to sound almost sullen. Hange evidently got the same impression, because she sighed again and put her egg roll back down.

"You're suppressing, aren't you?"

"I'd rather not discuss this anymore," Erwin stated firmly. "There's no point. Now, let's talk about the presentation we have to make this afternoon. I have some ideas I want to run by you."

"Ugh, I give up," she grumbled. "You are hopeless, mister."

Erwin started to tell her it was about time she stopped hounding him about his romantic business, but then his phone vibrated in his pocket. Erwin worked a food particle out from between his teeth as he pulled the phone out to look at the caller ID. He gave a start when he recognized the number, though he hadn't yet added it to his contacts list and thought he probably never would. He'd memorized that phone number since finding it, avoided the temptation to call it day after day. Now for the first time, it was calling him.

He brought the phone to his ear slowly, staring blankly down at his food. "Erwin Smith speaking. Can I help you?"

For a moment, there was no response. Then that low, soft voice spoke, sending Erwin's pulse racing. "Erwin, it's Levi. Levi Ackerman, from the Cheshire Grin."

"Hello, Levi." His voice sounded much calmer than he felt. "What a surprise to hear from you. To what do I owe the pleasure? Did I leave something behind the last time I was at your establishment?"

"No, that isn't what I'm calling about." Levi sighed. "I need to talk to you about something."

Erwin didn't like the serious tone of his voice, and he had an awful suspicion that Levi was about to tell him he was with someone new and not to wait around for him to be available. "Well, this is my lunch hour. I suppose I have time to talk."

"No, not over the phone," said the younger man. "I was thinking we could meet up sometime soon and talk in person. It's not the kind of conversation I want to have over the phone."

That didn't inspire any confidence in Erwin. "Can I ask what this is in regards to? I have a rather busy schedule."

"It's...it's about what we talked about the morning after I came to your place."

Erwin briefly closed his eyes. This was just getting worse and worse. "I see." He saw Hange watching him like a hawk, and Erwin got up from the cafeteria table to walk out into the hall for some privacy. "Levi, to be honest with you, I don't know when my schedule will be free enough for me to meet up with you; especially if it's not an emergency. Can't you just tell me over the phone?"

"I really don't want to do it that way. Tch, all right, I can wait. Just tell me one thing for now, and I'll let you get back to me when you've got free time later."

"All right, what do you want to know?"

It sounded like Levi took a deep breath, and then he spoke in a demanding, almost angry voice. "Are you dating someone?"

The question came as a surprise. "Excuse me?"

"Dating," repeated Levi in a clipped tone. "Are you in a relationship with someone?"

"I'm not sure why you're asking me this, but no." Erwin scratched his head, frowning with confusion. "Aren't _you_ dating someone?"

"Huh? No." Now Levi sounded confused. "I broke up with Jackson. You know that. I told you I was going to and I haven't talked to him since."

"I don't mean Jackson," clarified Erwin.

"Then what the hell are you talking about?"

Erwin sighed. Maybe he'd just born witness to Levi interacting with a casual fling or a friend with benefits. "The last time I went to the tea bar, I went to say hello to you and saw you with someone. A young guy with blond hair."

Levi went quiet for a moment. "I haven't been with anyone since you. You sure you didn't mistake me for someone else?"

"Believe me, it's not possible for me to mistake you for someone else. You were sitting outside in the courtyard on the couch, underneath the awning. There was a young man with you that I didn't recognize, and you had your head on his shoulder."

"Oh. Ah, shit, Erwin...you got it all wrong."

Erwin perked up slightly. "Is that so? You certainly looked cozy together."

"If you'd come up to us and said something instead of running off, I'd have introduced you," Levi explained, a hint of relief coloring his voice. "That was my old friend Farlan Church. We've been friends since high school, and he'd just moved back into town. There's nothing going on between us."

"I didn't get that impression when I saw you together," Erwin informed softly. "You're sure there's nothing more than friendship between you?"

"Yeah. Look, I know what day you're talking about. Farlan was just trying to comfort me because I was...having a bad day. Whatever it looked like from your point of view, me and Farlan are just friends. We made out once in the whole time we've known each other, and that was on New Year's Eve one year when we were both shit-faced. That's the extent of our romantic history together, and it was a one-time thing."

Erwin imagined Levi's friend might not share his opinion on that, but it was an incredible relief to know he didn't have a new boyfriend after all. Now the meaning behind Levi's expressed reason for calling took on a more positive connotation, and Erwin wasn't as averted to making the time to meet up with him.

"Now I have a question for you," said the blond, armoring himself just in case. "Is the thing you wish to discuss with me in person something good, or bad?"

"That depends," said Levi evasively.

"On what?" urged Erwin.

"On you. So can you find the spare time to meet up with me, or what?"

Erwin detected the warning in Levi's tone. He was giving him an opening, giving him a chance to prove he wasn't another Jackson. If he couldn't make the time to do this, Erwin sensed he'd be blowing his only chance. He'd once told Levi that if he were his, he would make time for him. Now was his opportunity to prove it.

"I can fit an hour in today between work and the dinner party I'm attending afterwards," offered the blond, "unless you would rather meet up later. The dinner could run until nine or ten at night."

"I'll take the hour after you get off work," Levi decided. "This might not take very long."

Erwin sighed. "I really wish you would just tell me."

"It's too much to say over the phone, and you said you're having your lunch anyway," Levi pointed out. "Besides, I want your full attention when we talk. I'll let you go so you can finish your lunch."

"Wait, Levi. We haven't agreed on a place to meet up yet."

"Ah, shit. My bad. How about the south beach? Wait, that's too sandy. If you're going to some fancy dinner you don't need to go somewhere that'll mess up your outfit."

"We could meet at the park overlooking it," suggested Erwin. "I get off at five. I could be there by fifteen after."

"Okay, the park sounds good. I'll wait for you at uh...gazebo three."

"All right. See you there, Levi. Have a good day."

Erwin hung up the phone, and he took a deep breath. He was tingling with excitement and anticipation now. He still had a presentation to get through before the day was finished, and being nervous like this wasn't going to make it go any smoother.

* * *

Levi kept checking his watch. He unbuttoned the white shirt he wore over his black tank top to cool off a little, and he started fiddling with his phone to distract himself. He'd tried to dress a little nice for this meeting, without overdoing it. He wore his good jeans, the shirt combo and a pair of his newest sneakers. He propped his shades on top of his head and had another look around, searching for a certain tall blond. It was nearly five-thirty, and still no Erwin. No text messages or phone calls, either.

"What the hell am I doing?" sighed Levi to himself. He'd been through this song and dance already. Like Farlan said; he'd tried to change his luck by changing his attitude when he started seeing Jackson regularly. He couldn't say how much of that was of his own volition or Jackson's influence on him, though. Levi thought if he could learn to compromise better, he might make it last.

"But all I _did_ was compromise, and that fucker took full advantage of that. He turned me into his plaything and now here I am setting myself up for—"

His phone started going off with a text alert, and Levi juggled it and almost dropped it. He checked and he found a message from Erwin.

_"I'm sorry I'm late. I got cornered by my supervisor on my way out of the building. I should be there in five min. Hope you haven't been waiting too long."_

Levi stared at the message, biting his lip. This was how it had started sliding downhill with his ex. It started out innocently enough; a little late here, a cancelled date there. Jackson always had good excuses and Levi couldn't blame him at first, because it was always a circumstance that his boyfriend couldn't help.

But Erwin wasn't Jackson. Good looks and career set aside, he was nothing like the man. At least he'd sent a text letting him know what happened, rather than waiting for Levi to finally message him asking where the hell he was at.

 _"It's okay,"_ Levi typed back, determined to see this discussion through. _"I'm where I said I would be. See you soon."_

He evened his breathing, trying to calm the butterflies in his stomach. There were two little voices warring in his head. One was telling him that he was making a big mistake. The other was urging him to take a chance, encouraging him to stick with the plan.

Levi sensed him before he saw him. He could smell the subtle, masculine fragrance of Erwin's cologne wafting to him in the breeze. He didn't turn, just remained seated on the bench, watching the beach spread out beneath the park. He heard Erwin's soft footfalls approach from behind, saw his larger shadow engulf his own on the wooden gazebo deck. Erwin came around the bench, and he sat down quietly beside him. Levi looked at the older man sidelong, taking in his gray vest, the long-sleeved white shirt beneath it, the gray slacks and the polished black shoes he wore. Erwin looked every bit the dashing gentleman in his business attire, and Levi thought he could probably get away with going to his dinner party without changing out of his current attire.

"I've taken a lot of time to think about the offer you made after we fucked," Levi blurted. He grimaced a bit at his own crude word usage. "I mean after we slept together...even though we didn't do much sleeping."

Erwin smirked slightly. "You don't need to censor yourself around me, Levi. I'd rather you speak your mind plainly."

Levi nodded, relaxing a little. It was refreshing to be with an older man that didn't frown upon his language usage. He couldn't reconcile the conflicting trust he had for this man and his experiences he'd been through that had taught him to be on his guard.

"Well, you said when I'm ready to try dating again to look you up. I want to know if you still feel that way. When you stopped coming around, I figured you found someone else and I lost my chance."

Erwin stared at him quietly for a moment. The ocean breeze stirred his blond hair, blowing a few strands out of place until Levi was tempted to pat them back down. He looked too sexy mussed up like that. It made the younger man think of the way he'd looked while they were having sex.

"I've been doing a lot of thinking as well," Erwin said softly. "I initially cut down on the frequency of my visits to the tea bar to give you more space. I didn't want you to feel pressured while you were trying to adjust to breaking up with your ex and figure out what you want."

Levi nodded. That made sense, and it sounded like something Erwin would do out of courtesy. "Go on. Why'd you stop coming completely?"

"Because of the impression I got when I saw you that day with Farlan. Like you, I thought I'd lost my chance. It wasn't out of a loss of interest. It was out of respect for your choice." Erwin lowered his gaze, frowning a little. "I must confess to you the additional reason I stopped visiting your tea bar. It was too hard for me."

"Because of work?" guessed Levi.

Erwin shook his head, and he met the smaller man's gaze again. His beautiful blue eyes were earnest and troubled. "No. I could have managed my schedule to have more free time if I'd wanted to. The truth is, I took on extra work on purpose, to keep me too busy to act on temptation. Seeing you was what was hard for me. Seeing you, knowing you were with someone else again. There's just...something about you that got under my skin from the beginning, and I can't shake it. I thought it would be kinder to both of us if I stopped coming around."

Hearing him say that made Levi feel as though the air between them was electrically charged. Despite his determination to remain composed, his breath quickened. Erwin had just described his exact feelings.

"You got under my skin too," admitted Levi. "It scared me. I felt like I had to get it out of my system and then things could go back to normal, but then things went the way they did, we fucked, and it was like pouring gas on a fire. I thought for sure you must have found someone when you stopped showing up, and I had to find out if I was right. Farlan's the one that convinced me to at least call you up."

Levi took his sunglasses off his head and twirled them by an earpiece between his fingers. "Now you know why I insisted we talk in person. Shit like this shouldn't be said over the phone. It should be said face to face, where we can see each other's expressions and reactions firsthand. Text and phone conversations leave too much open to misunderstanding."

"I agree." Erwin smiled at him. "And I admire your integrity. That's a fine quality to have."

"Tch. If I was really as honest as you think, I'd have stopped lying to myself sooner."

Erwin watched him for a couple of moments, and then he reached out to touch the younger man's face, his fingertips gliding lightly, sensually. "Then all that's left is to confirm where we stand. Will you go out on a date with me, Levi?"

The smaller man swallowed. "To where? When?"

"I thought we could start with the time-honored classic of dinner and a movie, for a start. I'm open to suggestions. I have next Tuesday off, if you're free."

"That's almost a week away." Levi felt his bottom lip poking out, and he tempered himself. "I mean, Tuesday would be fine."

Erwin chuckled, and he brushed a thumb over the lip. "All right, one moment."

He took his hand away, and he reached into his vest pocket for his phone. He fiddled with it, his lips silently moving as he read something on the screen. He pressed his finger against a spot. "Done." Erwin put the device back. "I've cleared tomorrow evening."

"Yeah?" Levi's mouth twitched. "It won't get you in trouble to cancel whatever you had planned?"

Erwin shook his head. "Not at all. It's a charity event, and my presence there isn't mandatory. I was just going to represent my company in person. No great loss, and you're worth it."

Levi flushed with pleasure. He wasn't even aware that his lips had curved until Erwin's breath caught a little and he said something about it.

"There's the smile I'd asked for that morning. It was worth the wait."

Trying not to let the compliment fluster him, Levi shrugged. "So what will we do tomorrow night, if we're doing the dinner and a movie on Tuesday?"

"Hmm. What would you like to do? I picked the second date, so you decide what we'll do on the first one."

"I don't think there's much going on around town on a Thursday," mused Levi. "How about we shoot some pool? You like billiards, right?"

"I do."

"Good, so do I. I know a good billiard hall we could go to. Kind of classy, like you. There's even a cigar bar downstairs."

"You think I'm classy?" Erwin grinned at him handsomely.

Levi looked him up and down, finally allowing his eyes free rein to feast on the sight of him. "Stupid question. Of course I think you're classy. You're like a fine wine, and I'm like...beer."

That inspired Erwin to laugh outright. "The billiard hall sounds great, Levi. I wouldn't classify you as a beer though, if we're going to compare each other to beverages."

"Then what would I be?" Caught up in the exchange, Levi dropped an arm over the back of the bench behind Erwin.

"A gourmet tea blend," decided the blond. "Yes, I think that would be the perfect drink to represent you."

Levi cleared his throat and schooled himself. "So we're on for tomorrow and Tuesday. Are we meeting up, or are you driving? I don't have a car."

"I know. I'll pick you up at seven-thirty. I'll call you if I'm going to be late, all right?"

Levi nodded. "Sure. Seven-thirty sounds good."

"Excellent. We can grab a bite to eat on the way, if you want." Erwin cupped Levi's chin, held his gaze for a moment, and then closed in to seal the agreement with a kiss. His mouth was warm and inviting against Levi's, and the smaller man parted his lips when he felt Erwin's tongue gently probe.

The kiss lasted longer than it was probably intended to. The moment their tongues met, a jolt went through Levi and he was right back to where he started at with this man. He cupped the back of Erwin's head to keep him from pulling away, and he flicked his tongue stud against the roof of Erwin's mouth. He heard a soft, low groan from his companion, and he echoed it. They moved closer to each other on the bench. One of Erwin's hands settled on Levi's thigh, stroking it intimately.

Erwin was the one to break the kiss. He retreated from Levi's mouth with obvious reluctance, breathing a little heavily and eyeballing him like he was a prime rib cut.

"I have to be more careful about that," husked the blond.

Levi took a deep breath, nodding in agreement. His urges were fucking up his common sense again. "So what time did you say this dinner of yours should be over with tonight?"

"Possibly around eight, but people may not start leaving until nine," answered the older man.

Levi closed his eyes and tried to stomp down his lust like a campfire that had blazed too hot. "You're lucky I have to study tonight. Kisses like that make me forget responsibility."

"Me too," admitted Erwin, smirking. "I came close to spontaneously canceling the engagement. My boss wouldn't be pleased."

"I don't want to get you fired," assured Levi. "I know I can't expect you to be available on a whim; just so you try to make time with me like you said you would."

"I give you my word. I'll always put spending time with you at the top of my list. The only exception would be emergencies."

Levi nodded. "I believe you."

* * *

Sleep was difficult to come by for Erwin that night. He felt charged and a little bit giddy with anticipation for his date with Levi, so he took a couple of melatonin from his vitamin cabinet to help him get to sleep. He was distracted the next day at work, but he hid it so well that only Hange seemed to notice any lapses in his concentration. He sent a text message to Levi at lunch telling him he was looking forward to their date. Levi texted back saying that he was too. Erwin sent him another text in the afternoon before entering a board meeting, just to let him know he had to turn his phone off and wouldn't be able to respond to any messages or calls for an hour, just in case the younger man tried to reach him and wondered why he wasn't responding.

He found himself stopping off at a store after work to shop for a gift to present to Levi. Not that he intended to give it to him on the first date; that might make him seem too eager. Erwin liked to be prepared, though. Knowing some of his dates likes, he thought he found the perfect little beginner gift to give him when the time was right. He also, being a prudent man, went to his usual drug store to restock his protection and personal lubricant.

In the process of getting ready for his date, Erwin got three text messages. Two were from Hange and one was from Levi. Hange wanted to know where he was taking his date on their first outing, to which Erwin replied that he would tell her about it later. She then urged him to make sure he shaved again before going out and to make sure he used his best aftershave. Evidently, she'd noticed that Levi seemed to like that brand. Levi's text was just a short, simple reminder that they'd agreed on seven-thirty.

Erwin could honestly say it was the most clean-shaven he'd ever been. He shaved every morning on work days, but he'd never shaved twice in one day before. Used to the sting of the aftershave, he patted it on, removed his bathrobe and dressed in the casual-formal outfit he'd picked out for the date. Dark teal slacks, a cream colored button up collared shirt with short sleeves, and a light blazer that matched the slacks. The lace-up dress shoes he'd chosen matched the color of his shirt. Erwin completed the outfit with a bolo tie, silver with a dark green stone set in it and a black braided leather pull string. After putting on his shoes, he checked his appearance in the full length mirror on his armoire, critically eyeing his reflection.

After making a few adjustments and smoothing out some wrinkles, he decided he was presentable enough and he checked his keys and his wallet. He also did a quick sweep of his apartment to ensure he hadn't left out any dirty glasses or dishes, fluffed his bed pillows and took a deep breath before heading out the door. Not that he expected to get laid on the first date, despite the fact that he and Levi had already slept together.

He got into his sedan, drove to the address given to him by Levi and made sure he had the right duplex number before going up the stairs to knock on the door. It was a quaint place in a decent neighborhood location. A bit on the poor side, but not the slums. He was standing on a little porch deck with an artificial ficas tree in the corner. There was an outdoor loveseat with a black iron frame and dark green cushions padding it, and a small glass-top coffee table of matching iron sat in front of it. There was a clean ashtray of black marble in the center of the coffee table, and next to it was a citronella candle beside it. It looked like it had recently been used.

Erwin took it all in, observing his surroundings with a keen eye. It didn't surprise him that the porch was spotlessly clean. He could even detect a lemon scent, which suggested Levi had recently swept and mopped it.

_~My last lover was never this tidy.~_

In fact, he'd been kind of a slob. Very cute, but quite lazy about his housekeeping. In fact, Erwin wondered if his lack of housekeeping motivation might have played some kind of factor in the demise of the relationship. It seemed like a superficial thing to worry about, but he'd always felt like he belonged with someone that kept his surroundings clean and practiced good hygiene.

The door finally opened, and Erwin turned to face it again. As soon as he saw Levi on the other side of the screen door, his stomach did a little flip. The younger man was wearing a burgundy, snug-fitting fashion t-shirt with vine embossed patterns running up the sides of it, black jeans and a pair of brown oxfords. A silver chain hung loosely around his neck with a flat oval pendant of plain black onyx on it.

"Hi," greeted Levi, looking Erwin over with equal admiration.

"Hi," replied the blond. "You look...I can't even find words."

"Back at you." Levi cleared his throat and opened the screen door, stepping aside. "Want to come in for a minute?"

Curious about his home, Erwin nodded and stepped in. The air conditioning brought with it blessed coolness, a reminder that they still had a couple more weeks of lingering Summer heat before the temperatures started to drop to a noticeable level. Night tended to bring with it the most relief.

Erwin looked around at the small apartment. The living room had dark hardwood flooring, with enough square feet to fit the entertainment system, couch, bookshelf, a couple of standing lamps with glass shades, two end tables and a desk. There was a round rug covering the center of the floor with celestial motifs of black and white shades. The furniture upholstery was brown microfiber, and there were a couple of paintings on the walls.

"It's not much," Levi said to him as he closed the door behind them. "It's all I really need though, living by myself. I don't have a lot of shit."

Erwin could see that. It was tastefully decorated without being cluttered. "It's cute," he said honestly. "I like your style."

"Heh, you might not say that once you see the kitchen." Levi took his hand. "Come on, I'll give you the five minute tour."

Endeared by the smaller man's actions, Erwin smiled and allowed him to lead him through the archway on the right. Levi had a dark green curtain covering it rather than a door, which he pushed aside. The kitchen he led Erwin into wasn't large, but it was meticulously organized with a glass door shelf system displaying rows and rows of teas, exotic spices, tea pots and cups. A cleverly rigged overhead utensil hanger lined the west wall, low enough for a person of Levi's height to reach. The linoleum floor was faux brown granite. There was a pantry sure to be stocked with all manner of foodstuffs, and the black refrigerator matched the black-top countertops. There was a mini dishwasher in the corner near a closed door on the opposite side of the kitchen, near the fridge. The stove was a small black four-burner type.

While it was a full kitchen, great care had obviously been taken to organize everything for space efficiency. It didn't really feel cluttered, and Erwin again had the word "cute" pop into his head. Everything was miniature to fit in small spaces. It really suited Levi. He looked at the younger man, unable to stop smiling.

"That's a lot of tea," he remarked with a nod at the glass display cabinet.

"Yeah." Levi looked the collection up and down. "I like tea. I even put together my own blends."

"You should make me a cup to try, after our date."

Levi flushed a little, glancing away. "Sure, if you want."

Erwin squeezed his hand. "I would love that. What's through that door there?"

"Ah, that's the bathroom." Levi shrugged. "Don't ask me why they put it right next to the fucking kitchen. It's an old building...used to be officers' quarters over barracks about fifty years ago. Do you need to have a shit or something? I just cleaned it."

Erwin coughed into his hand, and he shook his head, barely managing to keep from bursting into laughter. "No, I was just curious."

"Okay. Well, I'll show you the bedroom. That's all we've got left, really. I doubt you want to see the attic."

"Show me the bedroom," agreed Erwin. His hand was still clasped with Levi's, and that seemed perfectly natural in a private setting. Levi guided him back into the living room and to the set of open double glass-paned doors he'd noticed opposite the kitchen entrance.

"I leave the doors open because the AC unit in here is busted," explained Levi. "Otherwise it gets too hot. The unit in the living room is the only one working right now."

"I see."

Erwin stepped into the long, narrow room and looked around with interest. There was a dresser up against the right wall, an open clothing rack to the right of that and a double bed against the left wall. It was neatly made, with just enough room to get onto it from the right side or the foot of it. In terms of space it was a little cramped, but Levi had managed to make it look more spacious than it was. The curtains on the windows lining the walls were blackout drapes designed to insulate, keeping out heat and cold more efficiently. The room was decorated in earth tones of brown, green and black.

Erwin let go of Levi's hand to squat before the small window unit set in one of the panes near the bed. "What's wrong with it?"

"I think the compressor," answered the younger man. "I can afford a replacement and know how to install it. I just haven't had the chance yet. I can get a new unit up the stairs myself but I don't have a car, so I'd have to use a cab and pay them to wait while I shop. Just haven't had the time."

"Well then, I know what our third date should be." Erwin got out his phone and began to go through his schedule on his organizing application.

"What?"

"To get a new air conditioner for your bedroom and install it," said the blond simply. "I don't have more days off next week beyond Tuesday, but on Sunday I should be able to get four hours free to help you."

Levi seemed irresolute. He glanced to the side, his mouth thinning a bit. "You don't have to do that."

Erwin cupped his chin and kissed him on the lips. "I want to. I'm not leaving you stuck without air conditioning in your bedroom."

"It's not going to be so hot soon," Levi pointed out. "It's not a big deal."

"Even so, we could have several weeks of this heat still ahead of us. Let me do this for you, please."

Levi's tense expression faded and softened. He put his hands on Erwin's shoulders, and he kissed him softly. "You'd better not change on me."

"I won't," promised the blond solemnly. He understood. Levi's ex must have been attentive in the beginning, and then he eventually became neglectful. If Erwin had his way, Levi would never regret having him as a lover.

* * *

-To be continued


	3. Chapter 3

The date went really, really well. Levi and Erwin tied at pool game wins, and afterwards they stopped by the cigar bar Levi mentioned to enjoy a smoke. Erwin took him home after that, and Levi made him one of his custom tea mixtures. He thought about asking the blond if he wanted to stay the night, but he felt ridiculously shy and chickened out. Erwin thanked him for the tea, assured him that it was delicious and then gave him a long, deep kiss goodnight.

They could have had sex. They probably _should_ have had sex, yet Erwin remained a gentleman and left before things could escalate to that point. That was when Levi knew he was in real trouble. Despite the sexual chemistry and tension, Erwin respected him enough to resist temptation and wait. He admitted as much to Levi, insisting that they at least wait for the third date.

That, combined with his generous offer to take time out of his schedule to help him with the air conditioning in his bedroom was the last shred of proof Levi needed to be convinced Erwin was nothing like his ex. He wasn't like anyone Levi had ever dated, in fact. Most men were so eager to get down his pants, they wouldn't have had the patience and fortitude to wait if it was offered to them. In fact, Levi couldn't remember a time when a date with Jackson hadn't ended in sex—that was, when the man could spare the time to do anything with him at all.

Levi buried himself in work and studies to distract himself from the persistent need nagging at his heels. He counted the days, and when Tuesday finally came around, he dressed in a faintly provocative ensemble of cut-off shorts and a tank top, knowing it was Erwin's weakness. Erwin showed up dressed sharply as always, and his eyes devoured Levi from head to toe. While the blond tended to wear trousers designed to conceal the shape of his junk and leave plenty of room, it was still pretty obvious he popped a boner.

Erwin had evidently planned to take Levi to a fancy place for dinner, but he revised his plan upon seeing what the smaller man was wearing. He didn't seem upset about it. He picked out a beach cafe and they had dinner there. It was a nice little place with an outdoor dining area shaded by a bamboo cover. Levi ordered the jerk chicken kabobs and Erwin had the island burger. Levi had to bite back unkind words when their waitress flirted with Erwin, reminding himself that he and Erwin hadn't done anything that would give the idea they were a couple and not just a pair of friends. He fixed that by scooting his chair closer to Erwin and rubbing his knee openly. The waitress backed off after that, and Levi had to smirk a little when she failed to hide her disappointment.

They enjoyed a brief walk on the beach after dinner, and then they went to the eight o'clock showing of a war film they'd both been interested in seeing. It was an all right movie, Levi supposed. There was really more action than plot, though. Afterwards on the ride home, he asked Erwin a few questions about his time in the service.

"So what was your rank?"

"I was a commander." Erwin frowned a bit as he said it, and he pulled the car to a stop at a red light.

Levi felt a little jolt of familiarity again. He couldn't explain why, but the rank of commander seemed so...right for Erwin. Still, he'd only been in his twenties when he was on active duty. "At such a young age? Damn, you must have really climbed the ladder fast."

"I did." Erwin nodded. "My father was a big inspiration for me. He encouraged me to always give my best in any situation, and he said that he knew I'd go far in life."

Levi stared at him, realizing that he knew next to nothing about Erwin's family. "Where is he now?"

"He passed of cancer two years ago," answered the blond softly. "Mother died young, when I was only ten. She had a stroke."

Regretting having brought it up, Levi grimaced a little. "Sorry."

Erwin reached out to put an arm around him, drawing him closer. He kissed Levi's hair. "It's all right. I've done my grieving. He was a good man, and both he and Mother went peacefully. That's more than a lot of people can hope for."

Uncomfortable with the subject, Levi changed it. "So you retired pretty early in your military career. Could they recall you back to service?" He tilted his head back, watching his date inquisitively.

"They might, if we ever go to war again. Then again, they might not. I got discharged with a purple heart for taking a bullet to the thigh. You may have noticed the scar, though they did a good job extracting it and patching me up."

Levi had noticed the scar, if only briefly. "It's that crescent-shaped one on your left thigh, right?"

"That's right. Usually they don't recall veterans that earned a purple heart, but you never know."

Erwin looked at him, and upon seeing his little frown, the blond took his other hand off the wheel and cupped Levi's chin. "Don't worry. I would get plenty of notification if they wanted me back in the service, and you would be the first to know about it."

Levi relaxed, comforted by his words. He stroked Erwin's right thigh, and he gave a teasing smirk. "You'd definitely bang me before they shipped you off if that happened, right?"

"Oh, absolutely," agreed the older man, his tone lowering to a husky drone. "How could I resist?"

"You're resisting pretty well so far," Levi pointed out, sulking just a tad.

Erwin chuckled. "Am I? You've no idea how hard it is for me to resist you. Especially when you're dressed like this." He released Levi's chin, and he slid his hand down the smaller man's front side, his palm stroking over Levi's tight pecs and abs beneath the shirt he wore. Erwin's mouth descended on Levi's, covering it with a demanding kiss.

Levi's breath caught, and he let Erwin's tongue go in. He sucked on it cajolingly, letting his hand slide further up the blond's leg. He lost all sense of restraint as he palmed Erwin between the legs, feeling the growing bulge there. Erwin made a sound of arousal in the back of his throat, thrusting his tongue suggestively inside Levi's mouth. The light turned green, but neither of them noticed it until they heard a car behind them honk. A guy on a motorcycle passed them and yelled out at them.

"Light's green, you faggots!"

Levi broke the kiss and immediately started to unbuckle his safety belt, his impulses screaming at him to jump out of the car, yank that fucker off his bike and pummel him for his insult.

"Levi, let it go," urged Erwin. He squeezed the younger man's shoulder, shaking his head in warning. "It isn't worth it and he's long-gone."

Levi's face was hot with indignation. He should have been used to anti-gay slurs by now, but they still managed to burn him up. He huffed, and he put his seatbelt back on. "Bastard's lucky I was too distracted to act quicker."

Erwin drove through the light with a little smirk. "I have no doubt of that, my little hot-head."

The heat in Levi's face was now inspired for a different reason. Erwin's fond reference gave him a stupid thrill. "How can you be so patient with assholes like that?"

Erwin shrugged. "Because they don't know any better. If we were in the trenches together, that guy might be singing a different tune, because this 'faggot' would be leading the charge and leaving him behind in the dirt."

"Heh. I'll bet you would, too." Levi couldn't suppress the tiny smile that manifested in response to Erwin's statement. He saw the way Erwin was staring at him with rapt attention, and while it was flattering, it probably wasn't safe. "Eyes on the road, blondie."

"Ah, right." Erwin shook himself out of it visibly, and he returned his attention to his driving. "Would you mind making one of your special teas for me when we make it back to your place?"

"Sure, I can do that. Do you really like it that much, or are you just flattering me?"

"I really like it," assured Erwin. "I think I like it more than the kava you make for me, actually."

"Hmm. Speaking of that, you should stop by the Cheshire Grin more often now." Levi adjusted his seat to lean back a little. "You've got no reason to avoid the place now."

"Good point. It certainly helps with stress management, and I get to see you." Erwin grinned sidelong at him.

Levi sighed. Nobody should be that damned pretty.

* * *

It was very difficult for Erwin to avoid letting things get too heated that night. They arrived at Levi's apartment, and the smaller man dutifully prepared some of his special blend for the two of them. They sipped it and watched the late news together, and afterwards they made out on the sofa for a while, until Erwin thought his erection might split his pants and had to back off. Levi was obviously disappointed when he put things at a halt, but he was so used to following his partner's lead that he didn't protest too strongly.

Erwin wanted to change that, but not for his own sake. He wanted Levi to feel confident enough to take the lead, to know that he didn't always have to wait for the other party to make a move and to feel safe enough to assert himself. Erwin had no intention of saying any of this verbally to his boyfriend, though. He didn't want to pressure the young man, wanted Levi to make his own decisions without his influence clouding his choices. He kissed him goodnight, went home and beat off to rid himself of some of his sexual frustration.

He did start visiting the Cheshire Grin after work as suggested by Levi, and Hange went with him once to get her kava fix as well. She was being unusually subdued about her observations concerning his and Levi's relationship, which was unusual. Ordinarily, she would have passed sly remarks to him and pushed him to lay a wet one on Levi while he was there. The fact that she didn't do her usual thing suggested to Erwin that she had become content in letting him take things at his own pace. She did tell him how cute a couple she thought they made when Erwin pulled Levi off to the side for a goodbye kiss, however.

The appointed day for the air conditioner replacement came, and Erwin almost groaned when he picked Levi up and found him dressed in cut-off shorts and a tank top again. He was no fool; he knew that the outfit was as much for his benefit as it was for practicality, and he said nothing about it. They were going to work up a sweat replacing the broken unit, so of course it made sense for Levi to dress sparingly. Still, it got him far too excited. They went to the home improvement store picked out by Levi because there was a sale on window units. Levi selected one of the smaller ones, and they loaded it up in the trunk of Erwin's car and drove back to Levi's place to install it.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much space in the bedroom available for two men to squeeze into the same spot, and Erwin found himself helplessly watching as Levi pried loose the painted wooden planks surrounding his old unit so that he could pull it out.

"Do you have a tall ladder?" asked the blond. "I could climb up from outside and help from the other side."

"No such luck," grunted Levi. He pulled the broken unit out of its casing, and Erwin was quick to take it from him so that he wouldn't have to set it on the bed. "It's okay, I've done this by myself before."

"Just don't hurt your back," advised the blond. He carried the old unit out into the living room, and then he retrieved the new one from the open box it was sitting in. "All right, here it is. Are you sure I can't—"

"Just hand it over to me," interrupted Levi, wiping sweat from his brow. "I can get this thing in and hooked up in a couple of minutes. Thanks for your help, by the way."

Unable to do more than comply, Erwin transferred the new unit to Levi's waiting arms. He watched as his pale, sexy little boyfriend squatted and manhandled the thing into the support cage attached to the window. He couldn't tear his gaze off of Levi's ass...that perfect, muscular little butt that looked so absurdly bitable in those denim shorts of his. Erwin began to salivate. Levi's ass was just begging for a squeeze. His fingers twitched, and he clenched his hands into fists.

"Come on, you son of a bitch," grunted Levi, rocking the unit a little to get it settled. He breathed a sigh of relief once it was seated, and he plugged it in to test it again. When it came on and blew cold, he nodded and he took up the hammer and nails to replace the boards around it.

"There," Levi said, having settled the unit in and gotten it insulated to his satisfaction. He remained bent over, presenting that delightful ass to Erwin without even seeming to realize it. He made some temperature adjustments, and he hummed in delight as he let the cold air blow on his flushed, sweaty face. "Much better. Damn, I think this one might even cool better than the one in my living room. What do you think, Erwin?"

Levi had turned his head to look over his shoulder at the staring blond man, still bent over. All Erwin could think was that Levi would be the perfect model for a sexy twink magazine.

"Er, yes. It looks...great."

Levi returned his attention to the air conditioning unit. "I'm glad we measured that busted bitch before we went to pick this one up. Fits just right and...oi!"

Erwin had abandoned self-restraint. He came up behind Levi, squeezing in between the bent-over barista and the bed, and grabbed his ass cheeks in both hands to grope them. Levi straightened up in surprise, turning his head with wide eyes.

"I'm sorry," whispered Erwin into Levi's nearest ear. "I'm acting like a pervert, but you in these shorts...god, Levi. Are you _trying_ to torture me?"

"I...hah...maybe I am?" Levi shivered as Erwin gave his ass a good squeeze. He tilted his head back, his eyes heavy-lidded as they gazed into the blond's. "I wore 'em because I knew I'd get sweaty, but...I know you like me in these shorts. I'm so fucking horny, Erwin."

Levi's blatant declaration made Erwin swell even further in his pants. He grabbed Levi's hips and yanked the smaller man back against him, letting him feel how hard he was. "I've been...trying to hold back. This is, however, our third date. Technically, anyhow."

"Then what the hell are you waiting for?"

Erwin paused, and he cupped the side of Levi's face, staring into those lazy gray eyes, he murmured a heartfelt request. "I need you to say it, love. I need you to tell me what you want."

Levi hesitated, his brows pinching with seeming distress. "Isn't it obvious?"

Erwin shook his head, resisting the impulse to throw Levi down on the bed and ravish him. "Talk to me. Speak your mind. Tell me."

Levi's breath quickened, and he moistened his lips with the tip of his tongue. Their was brief glimpse of his tongue piercing, and it made Erwin groan softly. "I want you to fuck me," confessed the smaller man. "Right here. I've never done it with anyone on my own bed. Christen it now, Smith. Throw me down and—"

Erwin didn't give him the chance to finish; he couldn't bear it any longer. He picked Levi up, dropped him down on the bed and immediately pinned him there with the length of his body. He felt Levi's thighs embrace his waist, felt the heels of his combat boots digging into the small of his back. Their mouths connected hungrily, and Levi's arms were tight around Erwin. Grinding, groping and panting, the two men mutually yanked and tore at each other's clothing.

"Fuck," panted Levi between kisses. "I don't have anything..."

"I brought stuff," assured Erwin. "Front right pocket."

Levi evidently wasn't offended by Erwin's pre-planning. He immediately reached in and dug the gel packets and condoms out. "Thank fuck for that."

Erwin laughed impulsively. Joy was combined with lust. He sharply recalled the way his companion looked when Levi came the last time they were intimate, and he dearly wanted to see that expression on his pale features again. He reached down and back in a clumsy effort to untie the smaller man's shoes, licking and sucking at his throat all the while. Levi helped him eagerly, and after they got his boots extracted from his feet, he helped Erwin rid himself of his oxfords. Their clothing scattered on the floor and the bed, and before long, both men were nude.

Erwin heard a rumble of thunder overhead as he kissed and licked his way down Levi's restless body. "Sounds like a storm is coming," he remarked, tonguing that cute little belly-button.

"It's got nothing on us." Levi's fingers threaded through the older man's hair, his breath coming out in harsh, sharp pants. He bit his lip and tilted his head back as Erwin sucked on the tip of his cock. "Oh...ah, shit..."

A flash of lightning lit up the bedroom through a break in the curtains, and the boom of thunder following it made the house shake. Erwin licked the underside of his squirming little lover's erection, watching his face from his vantage point.

"You're exquisite," remarked the blond sincerely.

"Hah...Erwin..."

Erwin shoved Levi's thighs further apart, exposing his balls to full view. He sucked on them briefly, making Levi's toes curl. He felt the shudder pass through that diminutive but powerful little body, saw Levi's toes curl from the corner of his eye. He wondered how in heavens he could have deprived himself of this for so long. He reached up with both hands and he fondled Levi's nipples to hardness, making the smaller man's back arch in delight.

Erwin intended to do much more than "Christen" this bed of Levi's. He planned to leave his imprint on it so thoroughly that Levi would never, ever forget this encounter.

* * *

"Oh shit...oh shit...oh _shit_!"

Gut clenching, body curling, Levi came for the second time in Erwin's mouth. They hadn't even done it yet, and the bastard had brought him to orgasm twice. The blond's thick fingers continued pumping steadily inside of him, brushing against Levi's prostate with each pass. Levi couldn't hold back his moans. His teeth clamped down tight, and he found himself helpless against Erwin Smith's attentions.

Gasping for air and dazed, it took Levi a moment to register that his lover had already put on a condom and lined himself up. He gasped sharply when Erwin hooked Levi's legs over his shoulders and entered him with one smooth, determined stroke. Levi clung to him, gripping his shoulders and panting.

"Oh!"

His handsome face was tense as Erwin gazed down at him and pumped slowly. His muscular body trembled, and a sigh escaped his lips. His golden bangs hung down over his eyes, all pretense of style leaving him in the heat of the moment.

"Fantasies are nothing like reality," purred the blond. He kept going, his ass flexing as he pumped his hips.

Levi's hands drifted down to cup Erwin's tensing and relaxing bottom encouragingly. Lips parted, eyes blank, he urged his companion on. Nobody had ever done things to him like Erwin did. He huffed with each thrust of his companion's cock, trying not to scream like a bitch. How Erwin unerringly hit that sweet spot each time was a mystery to him. Levi started to panic a little, already hardening again under the delightful assault of his cock.

"Erwin...Erwin!"

"Slower?" guessed the blond, his voice deep and soft. He gentled his thrusts, and he kissed Levi's flushed, sweaty cheek. "Tell me, Levi. I want to please you."

"Nnnhh...oh god..." This languid pace was even worse than the frantic one. The deep, steady glide of Erwin's cock was driving Levi to distraction. The nudge of that wicked piercing directly against his prostate sent shivers through him.

"Levi, am I being too rough? Is it too much for you?"

That sounded like a ridiculous question, in Levi's mind. He shook his head rapidly. His voice came out rough and breathless. "N-no. So good, Erwin...it's so good. Don't stop."

His avocation seemed to impassion the blond further. Erwin practically growled when he spoke. "The things you do to me. Levi, I can't...ah, hell!"

Levi found himself crying out, hanging onto Erwin for dear life as the blond started pounding into him with abandon. There was a reason he didn't invite his lovers into his bed, aside from the mess. The walls were thin, and his next-door neighbors could hear it even if he had his television or radio on low. Levi struggled to keep the volume of his voice down for modesty's sake, but Erwin was slamming home at just the right spot with each pump. It blew away all of Levi's self-control, and his voice rose to octaves that would have been frankly embarrassing to him if he'd had enough sense to think about it.

"Erwin...hah...Erwin!"

Erwin's blazing sapphire gaze met his, and that was it for Levi. His back arched, his fingertips dug into the broad shoulders and he yelled in release. He came so hard that he bathed Erwin's rocking torso with his spunk. Levi heard himself whimper—a sound that only this man could provoke from him—and he pressed his face against the blond's sweaty chest. There was a masculine growl, a few more sharp thrusts, and then Erwin tensed above him. He filled Levi with a groan of pleasure, his built form shuddering in completion.

Panting softly, Erwin stared down at Levi again when the smaller man's head fell back against the pillow. He just stared at him, not saying anything. His scrutiny made Levi blush, and he reached up almost shyly to stroke aside a lock of blond hair that was hanging over Erwin's brow.

"You're way to good at that," Levi complimented softly.

Erwin smiled at him then, almost boyishly. He turned his head to kiss the palm of Levi's hand. "Having sex with you is like every holiday and my birthday all rolled into one."

"Heh, pretty dramatic." Levi stretched with a sigh, well-sated from their encounter. "So you're gonna put out more after this, right?"

"Of course." Erwin gave one last, slow pump before withdrawing from him, and then he took his weight off of Levi to lay on his side next to him. "That is, assuming you're in the mood."

Levi rolled over to face him. He traced Erwin's pecs with his fingertips, and he forced himself to be frank despite his reservations. "I'm always in the mood when it comes to you. As long as you make time for me, I can't see myself getting stingy."

"I'll always make time for you," promised Erwin. "That was the agreement, and even if I hadn't told you so before I would do my best to uphold it."

Levi cuddled up to him, hiding his face against the bigger man's chest because he was afraid he might start grinning like a moron. Maybe it was too soon to start heaping expectations on Erwin and believing he'd always be so attentive, but this was a damned good start.

* * *

They showered together after that, had spaghetti Levi cooked up and some chamomile tea afterwards. They watched a movie Levi had rented, cuddled up on the couch together. Erwin found this domestic time with Levi almost as appealing as sex. He loved the way his small lover's body fit against his, loved the trusting way Levi rested his head on his shoulder. He'd been so envious of Farlan that time when he'd seen Levi do the same with him, because he'd thought Levi would never favor him with such a display. It made him happy to be proven wrong, and he nuzzled his lover's dark head and rubbed his shoulder as they enjoyed this quiet time together.

He had to work in the morning, unfortunately. Erwin debated over whether he should go home or ask to stay the night, but Levi answered that question for him.

"Seeing as we already screwed on my bed," murmured the smaller man against Erwin's throat, "why don't you just stay here tonight? We've got the bedding changed, and there's enough room for both of us."

Erwin smiled into Levi's hair, inhaling the freshly washed scent of it. "I would like that. I have to warn you though; I need to get up rather early so that I can go home and change in time for work."

"Yeah, I know. If I'd thought I was gonna get lucky today, I would have suggested you pack an overnight bag. Is it...too much trouble for you to stay here?"

"Not at all," Erwin was quick to assure. "I would love to wake up with you in my arms. I'll take the inconvenience of waking earlier for that benefit. I should go ahead and set my phone alarm while I'm thinking of it, though."

Levi pulled back to allow Erwin room while he got his phone out and set the time. "Shit, four-thirty? What time are you supposed to be at work?"

"Eight," answered the blond. "I like to get a head-start, though. Normally it would be five-thirty, but I have to take into account waking up and then making the drive to my place."

Levi looked him up and down. For once, his expression was unguarded. "No wonder you always look so damned pristine. You put a lot of care into it. Now I feel bad asking you to stay."

"Don't," insisted the blond. He put his phone back into his pocket, and he embraced his lover. "Don't you dare feel bad for making this offer to me, Levi. I can sacrifice an hour's sleep for the chance to be with you. I _want_ to stay."

Levi bit his upper lip, worrying it with his teeth.

"I mean it," insisted Erwin. He pressed the pad of his thumb against the lip to ease it out from between Levi's teeth. "I want to stay the night with you. Don't worry about the hour I have to wake up at, Levi. As long as I get to bed by ten, I'll be fine."

"Okay," agreed Levi softly. "I'll try not to jump your bones so you can get to sleep, old man."

Erwin laughed. "Feel free to jump my bones if you wish. I can't imagine putting up much of a fight."

* * *

Levi swore to himself that he wouldn't make advances on his lover when they bedded down, but as he lay there in Erwin's embrace, his manners started to take a steady hike south. In nothing but his underwear, Erwin was just too damned tempting to resist. The light of the half moon beamed softly through the parted curtains. The steady buzz of the new air conditioner provided cooling for the both of them, and as Levi lay there snuggled up to his taller companion, his hands started to drift. He cupped Erwin's muscular bottom, running his hands over it and squeezing it.

"Damn, you're hot," whispered Levi to the slumbering blond.

Erwin sighed in his sleep, throwing a leg over the top of Levi's. The smaller man burrowed a hand into his companion's underwear to touch his bare bottom. He grinned subtly, pressing his fingertips into the smooth flesh of his lover's ass. He wriggled down, kissing Erwin's chest and stomach on the way. Levi took his hand out of the back of Erwin's underwear, and he pushed on his hip to guide him onto his back. Erwin rolled over with a light snore, his head lolling gently. It made him look even sexier to Levi.

Though he was asleep, Erwin was hard. His underwear didn't have enough room to contain his erection. The top of his cock was peeking out over the elastic band of the waist of his undies. Levi rubbed the tip of it with his fingertips, teasing the silver metal of the piercing. Erwin sighed softly, and a glistening drop of precum formed. It was too much to resist. Levi scooted down further until his head was level with it, and he traced the knob of the flushed glans with his tongue. He made sure to stroke the ball of his tongue piercing against it, tasting the salty, slippery libation.

"Levi," murmured Erwin in his sleep, breath catching.

Levi's mouth curved into a smug smirk. Even in his sleep, Erwin knew who was giving him pleasure. Levi slid his lips over the tip, tugging the top of his underwear down to further expose him. Levi sucked on the bulbous head, flicking his tongue against the barbell decorating it. Erwin tensed and moaned low in his throat.

Levi felt briefly guilty. He knew Erwin had to get an early start, but he was so turned on right now that he couldn't bring himself to stop. Erwin _had_ told him that it was okay for him to jump his bones. He sucked harder and took Erwin's length deeper into his mouth. The man was too big for Levi to fit the whole of his cock into his mouth, so Levi relaxed the muscles of his throat and delved deeper. He started to swallow as he worked his mouth up and down, his saliva coating Erwin's dick and making it glisten.

Erwin started to pant, his thighs tensing restlessly. He reached down to stroke Levi's hair, silently encouraging him. Surely, Levi thought, he would wake up soon. He kept going, repressing his gag reflex as he worked his lips and tongue around Erwin's substantial length. He cupped and fondled Erwin's balls in his palm, and he almost gave his thigh a slap of warning when the blond's hips bucked. It wasn't Erwin's fault, though. He was amazingly still asleep, so Levi let it go and forgave him.

It wasn't until Levi's attentions drove him to the very brink that Erwin finally awoke. He rasped his name in shock, blue eyes staring down at him in confusion. Levi had gotten him too close for him to offer much protest, though. He groaned, his fingers tightening in the smaller man's hair.

"Oh god...oh god, Levi," gasped the blond. He arched his back, his hips lifting off the mattress as he came down the younger man's busy throat.

Levi very nearly choked. There was so much cum he could barely swallow it all quickly enough. He didn't complain one bit. Knowing he'd given Erwin that much pleasure was a triumph for Levi, and he took it all with determination. Once he'd finished his lover, Levi swallowed a couple of times, licked his lips and kissed the interior of his left thigh.

"Did you like that?" purred Levi. He already knew the answer, but he wanted to hear it from Erwin.

"What a fantastic way to wake up," gasped Erwin. He stroked Levi's hair as the smaller man crawled back up on top of him. "You do amazing things with that mouth, lover."

"Couldn't resist," confessed Levi. "Sorry for breaking up your sleep. You said it was all right, though."

"So I did." Erwin smirked at him. "I sure as hell don't regret you taking me up on it. You're wonderful, Levi."

The younger man fought against a grin. He didn't kiss his companion, self-conscious about the cum smell on his breath. "I'm glad you enjoyed it. I've got to go brush my teeth."

Erwin reached out for him, but he was too slow. Levi was already up and out the door. The blond sighed and relaxed, shimmying his underwear back up. "You're meticulous," he called to his lover upon noticing how clean he was down there despite the intensity of his climax.

"I know," Levi called back. "Waste not, want not."

He heard Erwin laugh, and he couldn't help but smile a little himself.

* * *

With morning came regrets for Erwin; not over having sex with Levi, but over having to leave him and go to work. He cuddled Levi and shushed him when the younger man gave a start and cursed over the noise of his alarm waking them up. Erwin urged him to go back to sleep, and he held him until the smaller man settled down and fell back into slumber. He got up carefully, doing his best not to jostle his companion. He found his clothes and he dressed as silently and quickly as he could, eyeing Levi from the corner of his eye as he did so.

Levi was so cute. He'd scooted over to the spot Erwin had been moments ago, snuggling into the lingering warmth from his body heat. His dark bangs fell over his eyes, making him look absurdly young and innocent to Erwin's eyes. Unable to help himself, Erwin paused after dressing and he caressed the side of his lover's face.

_~I'm completely smitten. Last night was my downfall for certain.~_

The realization should have frightened him at least a little. It didn't, though. It felt completely natural for Erwin to feel so strongly for this person. He still didn't understand the connection between them, but he'd learned to stop questioning it. Levi was his now...his alone. That knowledge made his heart soar, and he found himself smiling with the realization of it. He wanted to speak his feelings aloud, wanted to tell Levi how much he meant to him. He didn't dare, though. It felt like it was too soon for such revelations, even though he felt confident that Levi felt the same for him.

Erwin bent over to kiss Levi on the cheek, and he murmured to him. "I'll call you at lunch. I'd like to go on another date soon, all right?"

Levi mumbled softly, turning his head. "Mmm?"

"I said I'll call you on my lunch break and we can decide on our next date," reiterated the blond patiently, helplessly endeared. "Go back to sleep, my Levi. I'm sorry for waking you."

"Oh," sighed Levi, eyes still closed. "Okay. Talk to you around noon, hot stuff."

Erwin smiled. He wasn't sure Levi was coherent enough right now to comprehend what he said. He figured he would be awake enough by noon to hold a conversation, though. "Talk to you at lunch. Sleep well."

* * *

Damn, he was sore. Levi had been sore the day after his first encounter with Erwin, but he'd been so preoccupied with the complexity of his situation back then that he hadn't noticed it much. He hobbled a little bit when his alarm went off at ten, and he prepared a hot bath for himself. Levi vaguely recalled hearing Erwin speak to him before sunrise...something about lunch. He made a mental note to call or text him after his soak, and he sank into the bath water with a grateful sigh.

Levi took his time with it, allowing the heat of the water to ease his aches and pains. He didn't mind the soreness one bit. Waking up a little stiff after finally getting a good fuck was worth it to him. He heard his phone go off in the kitchen, but he was in no position to get to it in time so he just let it ring out. When the water started to get to room temperature, he got out of the tub and dried off. After dressing in the outfit he'd selected for the day, he carried his underwear to the laundry basket in his room and then he checked his phone for messages.

"Isabel, I'll be damned."

Levi pressed the call back option, and he had a little chat with his old friend. Farlan had apparently told her about Erwin, so she wanted to know all about him. Levi wasn't given to having deep conversations about his relationships, so he gave her the abridged version and assured her that Erwin was treating him well.

"So what does he look like?" she demanded. "All Farlan would tell me was that he's old."

"He isn't 'old'," corrected Levi with a snort. "He's older, but he's no geriatric. Trust me, the guy could run circles around most people our age."

"Then how old is he?" she asked.

Levi shrugged. "Middle aged. He just turned forty recently."

She clucked her tongue. "You and those older guys, Levi. At least this one seems to be making you happy, though."

"He is," assured Levi. "As for looks, he's really tall and he has blond hair and blue eyes. Damned good looking, smart and sexy."

"Sounds dreamy," Isabel remarked. "Has your mother met him yet?"

"No, I haven't told Mom about him yet. You know I never introduce my boyfriends to her until we've been going out for at least a month."

"Yeah, there's that and the fact that your boyfriends tend to be around her age," Isabel pointed out. She sighed. "I'm glad for you, but I feel kind of sorry for Farlan. You know he's had a crush on you for a while, right?"

Levi grimaced. He hated getting the reminder that he'd had to turn his friend's advances down. "I know, but he understands I don't think of him that way. I can't force myself to share his feelings, Isabel."

"I know that," she answered. "Just so you let him down easy. He really loves you, big bro. He just wants you to be happy, above all else."

Levi sat down on the couch in the living room, and he stretched out on top of it. "I figured as much. Farlan's a good guy. Hopefully he'll find someone soon. How are things going with your studies? He said you'd be getting your degree this year."

"Yup! Final term, thank God. I am so ready to ditch college life and get my career started. The only thing I can't decide on is whether I should stay here or move back down there where you are. I miss our hometown."

"Well, the good news is there's always plenty of veterinary work available wherever you go," reasoned Levi. "I've been keeping an eye out, but by the time you get here any openings I find probably won't be available."

"That's okay. I'm sure I can find something, and I can stay with my parents until I get things moving."

"Yeah," agreed Levi. Someone beeped in on the other line, and he checked to find it was Erwin. "Shit, that's my old man calling me. Let me switch over to him and tell him I'll call him back."

"No Levi, go ahead and talk to him," insisted Isabel. "I've got to got to class soon anyway. I just wanted to check in on you."

"Oh. Okay. I'll give you a call this weekend."

"Suuure you will," she teased.

"No, I mean it," he said stubbornly, recalling Farlan's observation about how rarely he put a foot forward in keeping touch. "Look, I know I'm not the best at correspondence, but I'm working on that. I'll call you around this time Saturday, all right?"

"Okay then, big bro. I look forward to the call! Now get off the phone with me and talk to your sugar daddy."

"He's not my...ah, never mind. Catch you later, brat." Levi hung up with her and answered Erwin's call. "Hey sugar da...I mean blondie."

"Hello." Erwin's voice sounded amused. "What was that you were about to call me?"

Levi sighed. "I'm sure you already know. Sorry, I was on the other line with an old friend and she was kidding around. It just stuck with me when I switched over to you."

"I don't mind," chuckled Erwin, "although I haven't exactly done anything to earn the title of 'sugar daddy' yet."

"It's just a term," Levi pointed out, face heating with embarrassment.

"So it is. Did you sleep well?"

Levi shrugged. "Yeah. I don't remember you leaving. I must have been pretty out of it."

"You were sleeping pretty heavily," answered the older man. "I didn't want to disturb your rest more than necessary, so I just told you I would call around lunch. When can I see you again?"

Levi's heart thumped painfully at the eager way Erwin asked. "Uh, well, I've got a shift tonight and I need to do some studying, but I've got Thursday off."

"Thursday," repeated Erwin. "Damn. I have to go out of town on a business trip tomorrow through Friday. Could I see you on the weekend, perhaps?"

Levi mentally reviewed his schedule. "Sure, I'll get off work around seven, and the tea bar is going to be closed Sunday for some electric maintenance. We could get together Saturday night if you want."

"Saturday sounds good," agreed Erwin. "How about you let me make you dinner at my place?"

"You cook?" That surprised Levi a bit. Past experience with men like Erwin had left him with the impression that they rarely bothered cooking for themselves. Their lifestyles were so busy and they made so much money, they usually tended to eat out a lot. Levi suddenly remembered that Erwin had offered him breakfast the morning after their first sexual encounter. "Shit, stupid question. Of course you cook. I should have known better. You don't fit the norm."

"I take it your previous lovers never did," guessed Erwin. "Well, I do. I enjoy it, actually. Do you like fish?"

"Yeah," answered Levi. Good thing Erwin couldn't see his little smile through the phone. "I like fish if it's not too bony."

"Then how does grilled salmon with asparagus and a blend of wild and long grain rice sound to you?"

"That sounds really good," agreed Levi truthfully. He'd been frugal with stocking his pantry since breaking up with Jackson. The guy had been more generous with his money than his time, and Jackson used to give Levi grocery money each week to help him out. "I'll see you Saturday, Erwin. What time are you picking me up?"

"Let's shoot for seven-thirty. I look forward to it, Levi. I'll have to let you go now. My lunch hour is nearly up."

"Did you get to eat?" asked the younger man. "Don't tell me you wasted your break on talking to me."

"I ate before I called you," assured Erwin. "Don't worry about that. No matter how smitten I am with you, I'm not going to neglect myself."

"Good. Talk to you later, blondie."

Levi ended the call, and he stared at his cell phone for a while. Erwin seemed too good to be true at times. He was polite, he cleaned up after himself, he was great in bed and he even cooked. Surely the man had to have some kind of flaw. Levi just hoped he wouldn't find out he was secretly a serial killer or something.

* * *

-To be continued


	4. Chapter 4

"Well, it certainly looks as though things are going well with you and Levi," Hange said later that evening as she and Erwin clocked out and walked through the parking garage to his car. "How many dates is this going to be now?"

"Four, technically." Erwin unlocked his car doors and opened Hange's for her.

"What do you mean, 'technically'?" She got in and thanked him as he shut the door for her.

Erwin went around to the driver's side to get in, and he buckled up before cranking the engine. "I mean I wouldn't exactly count our last one as a 'date', per say. It was more of an outing. Levi needed a replacement for the air conditioner unit in his bedroom, so I took him to buy one and helped him install it."

"Oh." Hange smirked at him, and she reached up to free her hair from the twist she'd fashioned it into for work. "Did you stay the night afterwards?"

Erwin glanced at her, and he almost declined to answer. It was Hange, though. He shrugged. "Yes."

"Did you have dinner together?"

"Well, yes," admitted Erwin. "Levi made spaghetti bolognaise. So what?"

"Then it was a date," reasoned Hange. "If you had a good time, enjoyed a meal together and especially if you had sex afterwards, that counts as a date."

The blond smiled. "I suppose I can't disagree with that logic."

"Look at you," observed Hange with a chuckle. "You're blushing!"

"I am not blushing," he denied, though Erwin could feel the heat in his own face.

"Yes you are. You are such the smitten kitten. Good for you, I say. It's great to see you happy again, Erwin. I can see that Levi's been really good for you."

"It's still a bit early to say that for certain," cautioned the blond, "but yes, so far he _does_ make me happy."

Hange clucked her tongue. "I suppose I can't blame you for playing it cautious after the last one. Oh, we're going to be passing by the Cheshire Grin on the way to my place. Why don't we stop in for a drink so you can see your sweetheart? After all, we're going to be out of town for the next couple of days, so this is your last chance before we go on our business trip."

"I really should get home and pack," said Erwin reluctantly. "I haven't even began yet, and I don't like to leave these things until the last minute."

"Oh pooh! How much packing do you think you need to do for two days? Just throw in a couple of business suits, a set of casual clothes and enough socks and underwear until Friday. Simple!"

Again, he couldn't argue with her reasoning. The thought of seeing Levi for a little while was very appealing to Erwin as well, and he knew his boyfriend had a shift this evening. "All right, you talked me into it. One drink. I don't suppose you've packed anything yet either?"

"No, but I already know what I'm going to bring to wear." Hange shrugged. "It'll take me all of ten minutes to get my suitcase ready to go. Do we know who all is going to be at this shindig we're going to?"

"Mike, for certain," answered Erwin. "Beyond that I'm not sure."

"Mike?" repeated Hange, and she squirmed a little in her seat.

"Yes, Mike. His corporate branch _is_ in the location we're going to. Why do you sound so surprised to hear he'll be attending?"

"I just know he prefers to do things in the background," defended Hange. "He's never been much of a public speaker. More of a number cruncher."

It was Erwin's turn to smirk slyly. "You still have a thing for him, don't you?"

"I never had a thing."

"Is that why you got so flustered the last time he showed up at a company holiday party?" Erwin took the entrance ramp to the freeway. "I never see you act that way except around him."

"Well, I was admiring his...suit." Hange looked out the window, obviously pretending interest in the scenery.

"Right. His suit. He's single again, by the way. Food for thought."

Hange chewed her lower lip. "Hey, even if I was interested—and I'm not saying I am—I'm terrible at flirting with men. You know that. Do you remember the barbecue disaster at Phil's last year? I ended up talking to Jeffery Hutch about gene splicing. _Gene splicing_ , Erwin! What the hell is that? I thought he was going to fall asleep on his feet and I wanted to kill myself for being such a geek."

Erwin chuckled, recalling how embarrassed Hange had been. She'd kept going on about it though, trying to make it more interesting for the target of her discussion. "I always felt like you should have been a scientist."

"Maybe in a previous life I was."

Her comment brought a frown to Erwin's lips. He was sure she was joking, but it made him think of the unexplained connection he'd felt to Levi when their eyes first met.

"What? Did I say something wrong?" Hange pressed.

He shook his head. "It isn't that. Hange, have you ever met someone and felt like you already knew them? I don't mean a sense of Deja Vu, I mean in the sense that you instantly felt recognition for them. Like you once knew them intimately, even if it's the first time you've ever seen them."

"Hmm, well now that you mention it, yes. There are a few people I experienced that with."

"Oh really?" Erwin didn't feel so silly now. "Who?"

"You, for one. Also Mike. Even Levi seemed familiar to me when I first met him. I can't even say any of you have 'one of those faces'. You know, like the guy everyone feels like they've met before? It isn't like that. I liked all three of you immediately, and it felt like being reunited with old friends when I met you. I suppose it's just one of those weird little things in life that happens when you click with someone."

"You don't think it's possible that some people could have met in a different life?"

She looked at him, tilting her head slightly. "As in reincarnation? Interesting. No, I don't believe in that. I've never been a spiritual person and I think all strange things can be explained with scientific logic, if you look hard enough for the explanation. I think it's purely a chemical thing between compatible parties, whether it's romantic in nature or friendly."

"I see." Erwin had to admit that he'd established a rapport with both Hange and Mike swiftly upon working with them. It seemed and odd coincidence to him that Hange also experienced a feeling of familiarity with the same people. "You don't believe in souls?"

She shrugged. "Not so much. I think once you're dead, you're dead. That white light some people claim to see when they have a near-death experience is most likely just synapses firing off in their brain. I think when someone's dying, they experience a sort of euphoria and have delusions. That's just me, though. I'm not going to tell anyone what to believe until there's definitive scientific proof otherwise. There's still a lot we don't know about ourselves and the universe. Plenty of discoveries left out there to make."

"So you don't believe there's even the smallest chance that humans have souls which could be recycled in the form of rebirth?" Erwin found that oddly disheartening, even though he'd never been a spiritual person himself.

"Wow, this subject really seems to bother you," she observed. "Look at it this way, Erwin: once upon a time, people thought the world was flat. It was only through exploration and discovery that they learned differently. They also thought the sun revolved around the planet, the moon was made of cheese and people were witches if they predicted the weather. Hell, people _still_ perpetuate the myth to their children that every year, a fat guy with a beard rides a sleigh around the world pulled by flying reindeer, handing out gifts. Don't tell me you still believe in Santa Claus."

"I believe in the actual person he was based on," Erwin chuckled, "but I don't believe in the myth that sprung from him. Please tell me you aren't one of those people that goes around telling little children that Santa isn't real."

"Of course not! I'm not that mean. But if I had a child, I wouldn't be filling their head with such nonsense. It's not worth the possible devastation they face further down the road when they find out it's not real."

"I see your point." Erwin saw the sign for the Cheshire grin coming up on the left as he exited the freeway. "Good talk, Hange."

* * *

Levi was pleasantly surprised to see Erwin walk in with Hange and have a seat at the bar. He immediately went up to them before anyone else could serve them. "Hey. I didn't expect you to drop in tonight. The usual for both of you?"

"Actually, I'm thinking of trying mine with strawberry syrup this time," Hange corrected. "How are you, Levi?"

He glanced Erwin's way, and he almost smirked. "I'm good. Two kavas, coming up."

He went to make the beverages, feeling his lover's eyes on him all the while. Levi was glad that Erwin came. He knew he had a plane to catch tomorrow, and he wouldn't get to see him again until Saturday. Levi finished preparing the tea, and he brought it over to them.

"I wanted to see you before I leave," Erwin said as he accepted his drink, confirming Levi's suspicions. "It was really Hange's idea, though."

"He was just going to go home and pack," she informed, making a face at her companion. "I told him we should stop in here first for a little quality time. You're welcome."

Erwin looked faintly embarrassed. "I was going to call, but I liked Hange's idea better."

Levi refrained from saying that he liked Hange's idea better, too. He leaned over the bar so they could hear him better over the music. "Want to go outside on the patio? I'm due for a break."

"That would be nice," agreed Erwin.

Levi turned to call out to his coworker. "Hey Kylie, I'm stepping outside for a smoke break, all right?"

She nodded in response, and Levi came out from behind the bar to join Hange and Erwin outside. The sky was overcast, and some of the chairs not covered by the overhang were too wet to sit in. Levi chose one of the stools by the outside bar, where the cover provided protection from weather and shade from sunlight.

"Looks like we're coming into the Fall rainy season," he stated, reaching for his pack of cigarettes in his back pocket. "At least it's getting cooler."

"Yes, but I wonder if we're going to have some flight delays," Erwin said. He'd pulled out his cell phone to check the weather via one of his apps. "They're predicting storms tomorrow through the weekend."

"Then maybe you won't be able to go on this business trip." Levi shrugged.

"Perhaps," said Erwin doubtfully. "It's more likely we'll just get delayed to and from our destination. Hopefully we'll still make it back by Friday night as planned, or Saturday morning at the latest."

While Levi wasn't thrilled by the prospect of having to cancel their plans Saturday night, that wasn't Erwin's fault. "Just call if something changes. I can't expect you to control the weather."

"If only I could," sighed the blond. He started to have a sip of his tea, and just as he brought the drink to his lips, there was a horrific crash from the direction of the parking lot. Erwin gave a start and spilled some of his tea on himself, and Hange yelped.

"That wasn't thunder," Levi remarked with certainty, immediately getting up. He didn't wait for his companions to follow him. He ran to the gate on the fence surrounding the patio, yanked it open and sprinted toward the source of the noise. Kylie came out too, looking anxiously around.

"What the hell was that?" she called to Levi as he passed her up.

"No idea," he replied.

He skidded to a halt when he made it to the parking lot, and he got his answer. There was a beaten up old muscle car peeling away. It was a brown two-door, and it had evidently slammed straight into Erwin Smith's luxury sedan. Levi swore vilely and yanked his phone out, trying to snap a picture of the mystery driver's license plate before they were out of sight.

"Holy shit," Hange blurted, having come up behind Levi with Erwin. " _Holee shiiit_! Erwin, your car!"

"I can see," muttered Erwin grimly. He walked over to his car, which was now sporting a huge, ugly gash on the driver's side, a broken tail light and a shattered back window. He squatted before the vehicle to survey the damage, and his handsome features were set and stony. "Did anyone see what happened?"

"I saw the car driving off," Levi informed, frowning as he checked the pictures he'd hastily taken. "Damn it, too blurry. They took off too fast for me to get a clear shot of their license plate or get a good look at it. All I know is the make and model. Didn't even catch a glimpse of the driver."

"That's really bad," Kylie remarked, stepping closer to the damaged car.

"Stay back," advised Erwin. "Careful, there's broken glass all over the place. We'd better not move anything."

"Right, I'll call the police," offered Kylie.

Hange came over, careful to avoid stepping on any of the glass. She bent over to study the damage, shaking her head. "I don't think this was an accident, unless whoever drove the car that did this was dead drunk."

"They must've come at it like a fucking battering ram," agreed Levi. "Could be they were speeding and just lost control and jumped the curb, but I think Hange's right."

Erwin got slowly to his feet, his expression as unreadable as marble. Levi shot him a quietly concerned look before trying to zoom in on both photos he'd taken, hoping to see the letters and numbers on the plate better.

"All I can make out is the letter 'k'," announced Levi helplessly. He looked up at his lover. "Sorry Erwin. I wasn't fast enough."

Erwin seemed to shake himself out of his trance, and he patted the smaller man on the shoulder. "You tried. Did you recognize the vehicle you saw? Have you seen it in this parking lot before?"

Levi shook his head. "Never. They definitely weren't a regular, whoever they were." He clenched his fists, his eyes flashing dangerously with anger. "If I find the bastard that did this, I'm going to rip his lungs out."

"It could have been a woman," Hange pointed out.

"Okay, then I'll rip _her_ lungs out," corrected Levi through gritted teeth. "If Erwin had been in this car when it happened..." Levi couldn't finish the sentence. He was getting angrier by the moment, and in addition, there was a shaky feeling in his legs at the thought of what could have happened to his boyfriend.

"Fortunately I was nowhere near it," soothed Erwin, foregoing whatever he was feeling right now for the sake of Levi's emotional state. "The only thing that's to be done for it is to make the report and get in touch with my insurance company. It looks like I'll be using a rental car for a while."

Lightning flashed across the sky, followed by a dull, rolling boom of thunder. Levi looked up as he felt a drop of rain splatter on his arm, followed by another. "Maybe we should check inside for a tarp or something to cover up this broken window. You don't need water damage to that leather upholstery on top of this, Erwin."

"Good call," agreed the blond.

He sounded remarkably calm, but Levi sensed an intensity from him like the calm before the storm. He had yet to see Erwin Smith lose his cool. Even when he'd intervened on Levi's behalf and punched Jackson he'd stayed calm and collected, but Levi had sensed the same quiet menace from him that day. He shivered, but not necessarily out of fear. Levi could almost feel sorry for the person responsible for this if Erwin ever found them.

* * *

Erwin filed the report when the police showed up, and his insurance company sent a tow truck to collect his car. They offered him and Hange a ride home since they'd been carpooling and thus had no vehicle now. Erwin declined in favor of finishing his kava to settle his nerves. The police said they thought it was just a random event and Erwin's car just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Hange still believed it got singled out for some reason, but they had no proof of that and Erwin couldn't imagine why someone would deliberately damage their own car just to hit his. If they were trying to vandalize it, they could have used a baseball bat or punctured the tires and then drove off.

"Maybe they were after insurance money," reasoned Hange as they sat down inside the tea bar. "Levi said the car that hit yours was pretty beaten up. They could have been deliberately trying to total it so they could have it junked and use insurance money to replace it."

"Trust me," Levi said, "People that ram their cars into someone else's and then take off usually don't have insurance. Even if they did, they had to know they'd be at fault for it and their premium would go up. People panic in that kind of situation."

"How do you know all this?" Erwin puzzled, impressed and surprised. "I thought you didn't drive, Levi."

"I used to have a car." The younger man shrugged. "It got totaled when some asshole ran a red light and plowed into me. I got knocked unconscious and they took off. Never saw anything except a blur of red. I woke up in the emergency room with my friend Isabel and found out my car was beyond repair. My insurance company screwed me over too, so I just dropped them and haven't had my own car since."

"I'm sorry," Erwin said, feeling for him. "I thought you just didn't drive because you live in the city and use public transport."

Levi shrugged. "There's that, too. Sometimes I just walk to work from my place, since it's not too far."

"Well, it seems we're both without a car now; at least until I can get a rental." Erwin sighed. The timing for this couldn't have been worse. He might not be able to procure a rental car in time for his date with Levi on Saturday. He could have a cab come and pick his lover up, he supposed.

"I'm sure they'll have your car fixed up in no time," comforted Hange. "In the meantime, I can drive us to and from work if I need to. I don't mind."

"Hopefully by the time we return to work on Monday, it won't be an issue." Erwin finished the last of his kava, and he looked at Levi reluctantly. "I suppose I should call a cab for Hange and I. We do need to pack for tomorrow."

"I know." Levi shot a glance around to be sure nobody else was around, and he gave Erwin a quick kiss on the lips. "Call me when you touch down tomorrow, all right? Sorry this happened to your ride in our parking lot."

"Nobody is to blame for that except for the driver that hit me." Erwin's anger cooled at bit in the face of his lover's concern for him. Levi might appear aloof most of the time, but Erwin was quickly learning how caring he could be underneath all that. "I promise to touch bases with you when we arrive. Do you have a ride home tonight? I don't want you walking in this weather."

Another boom of thunder sounded outside, and Levi glanced up at the ceiling with a frown. "Good point. If it was just rain I wouldn't mind, but the lightning could be a problem."

"Here." Erwin dug his wallet out, glad that he'd stopped by an ATM yesterday to withdraw some cash. "Get yourself a cab."

"You don't have to do that," Levi said softly.

"The buses won't be running by the time your shift ends," reasoned Erwin. "If you find a ride with one of your coworkers or friends, great. If not, I want you to use this. You can just hang onto it for emergencies if someone gives you a lift home."

Levi took the money slowly, staring down at it as Erwin folded the bills in his palm and closed his fingers around it. The younger man met Erwin's gaze, and the blond thought he saw a hint of shame in his eyes.

"Levi, I'm offering this to you," Erwin said, speaking into his ear for privacy. "You didn't ask me for it. Besides, I would feel better knowing you have a ride safely home. Call me overly protective if you will, but there you have it."

Levi nodded, and he put the money away in his narrow wallet. "Okay. I'll text you when I get home so I don't wake you up."

Erwin smiled at him, and he caressed his cheek with the back of his knuckles. "Good. I'll see you this weekend, Levi. Even if we have to postpone it until Sunday, I have every intention of cooking that dinner I promised you."

* * *

Levi was restless that night. He didn't have to spend the money Erwin gave him for cab fair; business was so slow that the boss let Kylie leave early once Levi's shift relief showed up. She gave him a ride home, and Levi put the money Erwin gave him away in his sock drawer so that he wouldn't be tempted to spend it unless needed.

He couldn't say what was troubling him about taking money from Erwin. He did it in the past all the time with his exes. He'd sold the watch his last one gave him so that he'd be a little closer to getting another car. Somehow though, Levi felt bad about accepting Erwin's money. It wasn't demeaning. Erwin hadn't asked him for anything in return. He didn't expect any sexual favors in exchange, didn't speak condescendingly to him.

After showering and lying down naked in bed with only his standing fan blowing on him to keep him cool, Levi figured it out. He was trying to change his habits. He didn't want just a sugar daddy anymore, didn't want to be someone's kept boy toy. He'd always treated it practically before, because it was damned hard to stay ahead with the cost of living as it was today. Even harder to try and support himself on his wages when he had to divide his time between work and school. That was the whole point of him taking this course; to have a trade to fall back on so that he wouldn't have to just squeak by for the rest of his life.

He also liked Erwin. Not just romantically; Levi genuinely _liked_ him in a way he'd never really liked his previous lovers. He felt like he had both a friend and a lover in him. He'd never really felt like he could confide in his other boyfriends, and as for Farlan, he didn't feel romantically inclined toward him.

 _~That's why the whole package of Erwin Smith feels like it's too good to be true,~_ Levi realized.

Or at least, that was a part of it. Plenty of people had some of Erwin's good habits, but not many connected to Levi on the same level. He'd been thinking of it the wrong way, blaming his uncertainties on what he considered to be perfection in a man. It wasn't just that, though. Levi knew that sooner or later, he'd find some flaws and that was all right because Erwin was human. He just hadn't had the chance to witness any of those flaws yet, and he now realized that the reason he feared Erwin was too good to be true went deeper than first thought.

Levi kept expecting it all to blow up in his face. He expected Erwin to change on him the way Jackson had, withdraw his affection and transform into some overbearing, jealous asshole. He wanted to stop making comparisons. He wanted to stop letting his previous experience influence his present relationship. He wanted to let this relationship stand on its own and stop being paranoid. Most of all, he wanted this one to work out.

"That's it," muttered Levi in the darkness. "Enough of this bullshit."

If he wanted to be happy and enjoy being with Erwin, he had to stop looking behind him. Levi knew what signs to watch out for now, so he wouldn't be caught by surprise again. He made a promise to himself to just live in the now and trust Erwin until the man gave him reason not to. Of course by then, it might be too late and Levi could fall hopelessly in love with him. He was already attached as it was. It was a risk, but he thought it was worth taking.

As Levi closed his eyes and tried to find sleep, other thoughts whirled through his head. Thoughts of what happened earlier that evening with Erwin's car. Thoughts of who might have a reason to specifically target that particular car, and how ironic it was that it happened right there in the parking lot of his place of work.

Levi opened his eyes, staring up at the shadowed ceiling. "Jackson," he whispered.

A flash of lightning outside briefly lit up his bedroom, and a crack of thunder made the glass in the window panes vibrate.

* * *

Erwin called Levi as promised, as soon as he and Hange got off their flight and into the airport. The younger man's voice sounded sleepy to him, and he realized he was an hour ahead of Levi now.

"Did I wake you?" asked the blond. He stepped through the automated glass doors outside to the pick up and drop off area, and he sat down beside Hange on the bench to wait for their ride.

"It's okay," said Levi. "I had a sleepless night again." He yawned before speaking again. "How was the flight?"

"A bit shaky in the beginning, but the weather is clear so far here. Did the storms keep you up all night?"

"Yeah...the storms." Levi sounded grim.

Erwin frowned a bit. "Is something wrong, Levi?"

The other male hesitated. "It's probably nothing. Just a thought that went through my head last night, and it stuck there like glue."

"Want to talk about it?"

"I...no, it's probably just me over-thinking. Happens sometimes after I do studying."

"I wish there was something I could do to help." Erwin waved when he saw Mike pull up in his silver van. "You have the day off, don't you? Maybe you should treat yourself. Do you have any money left from the cab fair I gave you?"

"Yeah, I've got all of it," answered Levi. "Kylie gave me a lift, so I put it away for safe keeping."

"Well, you should spend it on yourself," suggested the blond. "Go and do something you enjoy, or have some food delivered and relax for the day if the weather is too nasty. Whatever you want."

"I was going to do what you suggested and save it for emergencies," informed Levi.

"If that's what you want, but know that you're welcome to spend it on yourself if you decide you want to do something, all right? I insist."

"I appreciate that," Levi said. "All I really want to do today is sleep in and then go work out for a while. I might bring some with me to buy food afterwards, I guess."

"As you wish. Our ride just got here Levi, so I'm going to let you go for now. I'll call you tonight after the day's business is concluded."

"Okay." Another yawn. "Don't work too hard, gorgeous."

Erwin smiled, cheered by the endearment. "I'll try not to. Sweet dreams."

"Mike," greeted Hange with a stiff nod as their friend and work associate stepped out of his van to help them with their luggage.

"Hange," he replied. Even taller than Erwin, the other blond man wore a dark brown suit today for the regional meeting. He still wore his bangs rather long, but he was clean shaven today. "It's been a while."

"Yes, long time no see."

Erwin could tell that Hange was clamming up and getting flustered. Deciding to come to her rescue before she could blurt out something about protons or other scientific jargon the way others used humor as a defense mechanism, he stepped forward to give Mike a brief hug of greeting.

"You clean up nicely," said Erwin with a smile.

Mike shrugged, and they broke apart. "The boss said I had to shave for this one or I could be in for a pay cut. You ready to go?"

"Yes, we only brought carry-on."

Mike opened the side door, and he took their suitcases to arrange them in the very back of the van. They piled into the vehicle, and Hange gave Erwin a faintly panicked look when he insisted she ride up front with Mike.

"I'm not riding in front and letting a lady ride in the back," Erwin told her. "Get in, Hange."

"Oh, ah...all right then."

Erwin hid a smirk as Hange got in with both his and Mike's encouragement. He wasn't trying to be cruel; he just wanted to help her get over her phobia of interacting with men she found attractive. As bold as she was when it came to talking about other people's love lives, when there was true chemistry involved between herself and another, Hange was woefully awkward.

"So, what's been happening with you?" Hange said to Mike, her voice a little tight and strained. "Anything new on your end?"

Mike shook his head, checked his rearview mirror and took his hazard lights off. "Not a thing. How about you?"

"Oh, same ol' same ol'...except Erwin's car got smashed last night."

Mike's brows went up, and he twisted around in his seat to look at the other blond man questioningly.

"Yes, there was an accident," confirmed Erwin. "We're fine, though. Hange and I were inside a building when it happened."

"Hmph. What the hell?" Mike put his van into drive. "Did it roll away on you or something? Brakes stopped working?"

"No," said Hange. "We were sitting there enjoying some kava when _BAM_! Someone jumped the curb and slammed right into Erwin's car in the parking lot."

"No kidding? Were they drunk or something?"

"It's difficult to say," replied Erwin. "They fled the scene before we could get so much as a license plate number. Levi described the make and model to the officers on the scene, but I'm not thrilled at their chances of finding the guilty party."

"That's too bad," lamented Mike. "Did the police check all the local hospitals to see if anyone got admitted with car crash injuries?"

Erwin kept forgetting that Mike used to be a detective before he joined the corporation. "Honestly, I didn't think to ask. I was in a bit of shock at the time."

Mike nodded. "That's normal, even for stoic guys like you. If you want, I can touch bases with some of my old associates still in the force and see what I can do."

"I would appreciate that, old friend."

"Hey Mike, you never did say why you quit doing detective work," Hange said with interest. "Although I'm sure this career pays better."

Mike shrugged. "There's that, and there's the smell."

Hange exchanged a perplexed glance with Erwin. "The smell? Did your precinct station have a sewer line next to it?"

"No, the smell of the bodies," explained Mike. He sniffed, his lip curling a little with remembered distaste. He tapped the side of his nose, which was a bit on the large side but not unattractive. "I was in homicide. That was a mistake on my part."

"Ah, I get it." Hange snapped her fingers. "Your olfactory senses are through the roof. I can see why that would be both a blessing and a curse. So the odor of bodies got to be too much for you?"

"Yeah," confirmed Mike. He took the bridge over to the next county. "When I puked on my chief director's shoe, that was it for me."

"Poor thing," sighed Hange. "Interesting thing about the sense of smell: did you know the turkey vulture has the most powerful olfactory range of any land creature on the planet?"

Mike frowned a little, glancing at her. "You comparing me to a vulture?"

"No! Oh no, no, no. Y-you're more like a hound."

Erwin nearly face-palmed.

"So I'm a dog."

"Just sort of _like_ a dog," Hange corrected. She was getting flustered again. "In all the best ways. Erwin, help me out here. You're supposed to stop me when I do this!"

Erwin coughed, trying not to laugh at her. He noticed Mike smirk a little through the rearview mirror when Hange turned around to address him. "It's charming when you do that, Hange. Really."

"You only say that because you're too polite to say otherwise," she accused. She turned back around to face front with a huff. "I'm not saying another peep."

"I was just messing with you, Hange," Mike assured her. "You didn't piss me off."

She only huffed again, red-faced. Erwin wondered if Mike even realized that babbling she'd just done was a form of flirtation. With his sense of smell and observation skills, the man probably had at least some clue.

"So, this Levi," Mike said when Hange amazingly kept to her word and didn't talk anymore, "he's your new guy, right?"

Erwin nodded. "Yes."

Mike sniffed. "Hmm."

He didn't say more about it after that, and Erwin wondered what he might have picked up on with that nose of his.

* * *

"Okay Levi, why are we doing this again?"

Levi remained hunkered down in the passenger seat, and he reached up to grab Farlan's arm and pull him down too. "He'll recognize you if he sees you, idiot. Jackson knows what you look like, remember?"

"Right. I'll be more careful. But why are we doing this?"

Levi sighed. He'd commissioned Farlan to come and pick him up, since he didn't have a car of his own. They were parked across the street from his ex's business building, waiting for Jackson to come out and leave work. Thankfully Farlan wasn't driving the same car he'd had the last time he'd come down for a visit, or this idea would have been a bust from the get-go.

"We're just going to follow him and see where he goes," explained Levi. "I want to see who he meets up with."

Farlan rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I'm confused. You dumped this guy for Erwin."

"Yeah, so? And I didn't dump him 'for Erwin'. I got with Erwin later, after I figured out what I wanted."

"Whatever." Farlan shrugged. "So now we're stalking him? What's up with that?"

"I'm not stalking him," hissed Levi. "I'm ah...investigating."

"Investigating what?" Farlan's brows furrowed in confusion. "If you're worried about who he might be seeing, why'd you break up with him in the first place?"

"I don't care if he's seeing anyone, damn it."

Farlan gave him an exasperated look, patience obviously wearing thin. "Then why are we trying to follow him to see if he meets up with someone? This is the part where you try doing that thing we talked about called 'communication'."

Realizing he hadn't talked to Farlan about the hit and run or his suspicions about it, Levi gave him the run-down. "Okay, yesterday Erwin came to the tea bar to see me after he got off work. While he was there, some asshole drove full-throttle into the parking lot and rammed into his car. They took off before any of us could spot the driver or get the license plate number, and I think Jackson might have had something to do with it."

Farlan's eyes widened beneath the shaggy fringe of his ash-blond bangs. "What makes you think that? Has he been harassing you or something? You'd have recognized it if it was his car that ran into your boyfriend's, right?"

"Yeah, I'd have recognized his car, and it was some old clunker tank that did it. I doubt he would have used his own car to do it, if he was even driving that thing. Jackson's too smart for that. He might have even hired someone to do it."

"Well, wouldn't he have just had them do it at Erwin's place under the cover of dark?" Farlan reasoned. "Less chance of getting caught then, right?"

"Those buildings have security cameras and good lighting in the parking garages. We have security cameras on property too, but this happened fast and the car that hit Erwin's was facing the parking lot camera. No luck getting a plate number through the feed. If this was done on purpose, I'm betting it was done by someone who knew which direction to come in from to avoid getting identified." Levi narrowed his eyes and peeked up over the dash. "It would be stupid for someone to get out of the car and smash it up with a crowbar or something while it was still daylight. Faster to just ram it and get out before anyone could get a look at them."

"But it would be just as stupid to purposely drive their car into someone else's, don't you think?" Farlan shook his head. "Why would they risk injuring themselves that way? How could they be sure their car would still be drivable enough afterwards to get away, or that they wouldn't break a limb or worse trying to pull this off? I think you're being a little paranoid, Levi."

"I'm just checking it out, like I said. It just seems too convenient that it happened where I work and Erwin's car was the one directly hit. If the driver was drunk or hit a puddle and lost control, one or both of the other two cars near Erwin's should have got hit too. This was done like the bastard was aiming straight for that sedan."

"Or it was just dumb luck," sighed Farlan. "Levi, what reason has your ex given you to think he'd do such a crazy thing? Has he tried to call you? Come by your business? Left you any threatening messages? I know the guy had a jealous streak, but come on."

"Erwin hit him," Levi explained. "It happened on the same day I showed up at his place and we screwed."

"Wait, Erwin hit him with his car?"

"No, with his fist," clarified the smaller male. "He was at the tea bar and he saw me and Jackson get into an argument. Jackson was trying to drag me into his car to take me to change clothes, 'cause he thought I looked like a male prostitute. Erwin saw it, came running and decked him in the jaw."

"Whoa, you never told me about that." Farlan whistled softly, impressed. "What did Jackson do?"

"Scurried off." Levi shrugged. "Hange was on the phone with the police. I don't know if Jackson backed off because he was afraid of Erwin or getting arrested. Maybe it was both. Either way, he got humiliated and I don't think he would have just let that go. He's the sort of guy that bides his time, and he's sneaky."

"So you think that because Erwin punched him, Jackson decided to wait a couple of months and get back to him by doing a lemming dive into his car or hiring some moron to do it for him? I don't know, Levi. I always pegged him as the sort that would resort to something more insidious like trying to sabotage a career or going after Erwin with a lawsuit."

"That's what I would usually think too, but suppose he decided that would be too predictable of him?"

"I don't...oh, there he is." Farlan ducked down further, and Levi leaned over him to look out the driver's side window carefully. "I don't see any bruises. He's not walking with a limp. I really think you're wrong about this, Levi."

"So if I'm wrong I make an idiot of myself," argued Levi in a low voice, "but I'd rather look like an ass and be wrong than be right and have Erwin end up hurt because I didn't check things out."

Farlan took his eyes off of Jackson, who was now in the company parking lot across the street, getting into his car. He stared at Levi. "You really do like this guy, don't you?"

Levi met his friend's eyes briefly, and he pinched his lips. "Just follow Jackson, okay? We can discuss my relationship with Erwin later."

"All right, all right." Farlan waited for their target to pull out of the parking lot before putting his car into gear. He let a couple of cars get between them, and then he pulled out into traffic.

* * *

While Levi and Farlan were playing detective, Erwin was having a discussion with someone who used to be the real deal. After business for the day concluded, Mike joined Erwin at the suite he was staying in, and he brought his laptop with him and looked up old contacts. He showed Erwin the satellite recording a friend emailed him from the area of the accident at the time that it occurred.

"Well, there it is," Mike said with a gesture at the screen. "Shit, they really got you good."

Erwin bent over the taller blond from behind to watch the screen over his shoulder as Mike backed the footage up to replay the scene. It really was amazing, the things they could do with technology these days. He couldn't help but wince as he watched the solid old muscle car peel rubber at the traffic light a block away from the tea bar, turn sharply into the parking lot and barrel in straight at his car like a rocket. There was no sound with the satellite imagery, but Erwin could still hear the awful sound of the impact in his mind.

Erwin's jaw clenched. He watched the assaulting vehicle pull away from the vicious impact, one headlight hanging off and the front grill buckled, but otherwise comparably better off than his poor sedan. He saw Levi's small form come running up as the muscle car pulled away and peeled out into traffic, saw his lover holding something up in his hand that must have been his cell phone. He saw himself come up behind him with Hange and the girl that had been working with Levi that day.

"Well, what do you think?" Erwin asked of his friend when Mike paused the feed again.

Mike scratched his nose, sniffed and watched it again. "I think there's a good chance this wasn't a random accident."

"Can you zoom in enough to read the license plate?"

Mike shook his head. "Sorry. I can zoom in, but look: they spray painted half the plate with black. Can't make it out even zoomed in."

Erwin cursed. "Then Hange and Levi are right. Someone did this on purpose."

Mike turned to look up at him. "Any idea who would do that?"

"I can think of at least a couple of people that might be inclined," sighed the blond, "but I don't think it's likely. One of them has too much to lose if he were to get caught, and this doesn't seem like his style. The other is one of my coworkers in another department, and I can't just point fingers at them without any sort of proof. I doubt competitive jealousy would be enough motivation for them to go this far."

"You'd still better give me some names so we can have it looked into," suggested Mike. "I know someone that can be subtle about it. The people he investigates never know they're being monitored unless he finds something on them, and by then it's too late for them to do anything about it."

Erin rubbed his chin with intrigue. "A private investigator, I take it?"

"More like an undercover investigator from my old precinct. I'll send him a text right now and wait for him to get back to me. I need those names, though."

"Jackson..." Erwin frowned, realizing he had no idea what the man's last name is. "Er...he works at the Myers Corporation. He's Levi's ex, and we had an altercation in the parking lot in June."

"I'll need more than that," Mike said.

"I suppose I could ask Levi."

Mike shrugged. "And what reason do you plan to give him for wanting to know? He might think it's odd that you want the guy's last name. Didn't you check him out back when you first got interested in Levi?"

"No, I was too busy checking Levi out," muttered Erwin. "I know more about how Jackson treated him while they were together than I do about his personal life outside of that."

"Well, do what you can. I'm sure you can come up with a good excuse. Who's the other suspect?"

Erwin seriously doubted that the second person on his mind was involved, but he gave his name anyway and told Mike what department he worked in. "I would like to speak with this investigator you plan to have looking into this. I would like to gauge for myself how I feel about him before I agree to it."

"I can arrange that," promised Mike. "In the meantime, get that other guy's last name for me."

"I'll see what I can do," agreed Erwin. He was reluctant, because he had a gut feeling that this was going to be a wild goose chase. Still, he couldn't deny the suspicious way the incident happened. The license plate cover-up in particular was evidence that it hadn't been an accident after all.

* * *

-To be continued


	5. Chapter 5

"Well, that was a huge waste of time," complained Farlan after they got back to Levi's apartment. He sat down on the couch and helped himself to the television remote control. "Let's see; we watched your ex go into seedy lounge and have a drink, then followed him to a gay strip club where some guy saw us lurking in the alley and thought we were turning tricks. Fun times."

"Oi, I'm sorry all right?" Levi called from the kitchen, having started up the kettle to make them some tea. "I didn't know Jackson went to sleazy places like that. It was news to me."

"I guess you learn something new every day," said Farlan. When Levi came back in with two cups steeping tea bags, Farlan looked up at him thoughtfully. "Do you think your guy Erwin goes to joints like that?"

The notion seemed ridiculous to Levi. "No. Erwin wouldn't...well, maybe." He sighed. Maybe he was just naive to think even classy men like Erwin wouldn't partake in that sort of entertainment when they had him as their lover. It wasn't like Levi didn't sex the man up good and proper every chance he got, and he'd done the same with Jackson when the man bothered to spend time with him.

"Most guys do it," Farlan reminded him. "You've done it yourself before."

"I did it one time on my fucking birthday," snapped Levi, "and that place we just left was filthy. I could tell just by looking through the window. It's a wonder the dancers don't stick to the floor of the stage, as much shit as they were spraying all over it."

Farlan chuckled. "It's part of the show, Levi."

"So? They could clean it off once in a while." Levi sat down next to his friend, frowning moodily into his teacup. "If Erwin does go to strip joints, I think he'd go to something more upscale than that dive. Damn, I never knew Jackson was into that. I wonder how many times he touched me after touching one of those grimy dancers, or worse. If someone thought you and I were there to suck cock in the alley, it must be a pretty regular thing there."

Farlan started to snicker, and Levi narrowed his eyes at him. "Sorry," coughed the blond. "Now that it's over and we're out of there, I can laugh about it."

"You've got a weird sense of humor," accused Levi. "I found it fucking insulting."

"Come on, Levi. There you are in an alley outside a strip joint probably known as a place to hook up, just like you said. Some older guys see you with your porcelain skin, your bedroom eyes and your pretty-boy face, and you're hanging out in the shadows with another dude your age just watching people. Can you really blame them for getting the wrong idea?"

"Yes, and do you know why? It's stupid to assume someone's a hooker just because of where they're standing. I'm not wearing ass-less chaps with the words: 'bang me' written on my forehead, and even if I were, that doesn't give someone the right to grab my ass and ask me how much I charge."

Farlan again had to cover his amusement. His voice quavered a bit with mirth as he spoke again. "Well, I think you made your point pretty clear to him. Where did you learn to kick like that, anyway? I mean, you just jumped straight up and drove your boot right into his face!"

"I don't know," said Levi irritably. He combed his fingers through his hair, puzzled over that himself.

"What do you mean, you don't know?" Farlan eyeballed him suspiciously. "That was like a move from a martial arts film, and I've seen you make moves like that before when we were in high school. I always figured your mom had you take classes since you're so small."

Levi shook his head. "No, I never had any classes. The only training I do is exercise. I don't know where the moves come from, I just know I can do 'em when I need to."

Farlan stared at him as if suspecting a joke, and then he accepted the answer. "That's strange. You just...know how to do that stuff? Like it's inherent or something?"

"The same way you know how to read situations and settle arguments." Levi shrugged. "I've stopped questioning it."

"Huh. Well, maybe now you can relax a little, at any rate. If your ex was driving that car, he'd have been banged up. If he hired someone to do it, he probably would have met up with them by now."

"Unless he already met up with them last night and paid them after it happened," Levi suggested ominously, "in which case, I missed my chance to get any proof."

Farlan sighed, sobering up. "Maybe there's no proof to get. You should let the police handle this one, Levi. It's great that you want to protect your boyfriend and all, but you're stressing over something that may just be conjecture. You described Erwin as a capable person, so try to have faith that he'll be able to take care of himself until the authorities figure this out."

Levi tested his tea for warmth and flavor, and then he had a bigger sip. "I guess that's all I can do right now. I just really want to make someone pay for this."

"Just make sure you don't make the wrong person pay for it," advised Farlan. "That's not justice."

"I guess not." Levi felt his phone vibrating, and he took it out of his pocket to check. He saw Erwin's text message and his brows furrowed.

 _"Why do you want Jackson's last name?"_ Levi texted back.

A few moments later, Erwin's response came back. _"For future reference, in the event that he ever decides to try and press charges against me for striking him that day."_

Levi put his tea down on the coffee table, and he got up to call his lover.

"Hey, it's me," he said when Erwin answered the phone. "What makes you think Jackson would wait this long to do that? If he was gonna press charges, he would have done it right away. Isn't it too late for him to try and do that or sue you? His jaw's got to be healed up by now and he doesn't have anyone that would take the stand for him and testify against you."

"True," agreed Erwin, "but if I hit him as hard as I think I did, he may very well have x-rays and doctor bills to fall back on. Call it a precaution. A friend advised me to consider that possibility, and I think it's a good idea."

Levi walked into his bedroom with the phone for a little more privacy. He sat down on the bed, frowning. "I'll buy that, but this is a weird time to be asking me. Did you get a court order in the mail you just aren't telling me about?"

"No, nothing like that," assured Erwin. "I simply want to stay ahead of things."

"I don't know what good it will do for you to know his last name, but it's Drummond," Levi revealed. "If he's going to do something like that, you'll get his last name anyway. You sure everything's all right?"

"Everything is fine, Levi. Thank you for the information. How has your day been, by the way?"

Levi laid back on the bed with his legs dangling over the side of it. "Frustrating. I didn't get things done like I planned."

"Oh? I thought you just wanted to rest and then get some exercise."

"Yeah, but I had a change of heart." Levi hesitated, half-tempted to tell the older man what he'd been up to—leaving out the part about being mistaken for a hooker at the strip club. He wanted to be honest with him, but considering he'd just been asked for Jackson's last name, he wasn't sure how Erwin would react. Given Levi's reluctance to part with it, Erwin might think he was trying to protect Jackson when the exact opposite was true.

"I did make it to the gym. I just decided to do some research afterwards, and it didn't go so well."

"For a class assignment?" guessed Erwin.

"Yeah." Levi winced inwardly even as he said the lie. "I couldn't find the information I was looking for, so now I'm a little pissy and frustrated."

"You're always pissy and frustrated," Farlan called out from the living room.

"Nobody asked you," Levi shot back, and then he closed his bedroom door and addressed his lover on the phone again. "So anyway—"

"Who was that in the background?" asked Erwin before Levi could say more.

"Just Farlan. He was trying to help me with my research. Now we're just hanging out."

"Oh." The tension Levi had detected in Erwin's voice faded a bit. "Well, what exactly are you trying to research? Maybe I could help you."

For a second Levi panicked, but then common sense prevailed and he recovered. "It's not that important. Just some shit about ancient building techniques that turned out to be nothing but mythology. I'll just pick a different subject. You've got enough work on your plate as it is without trying to help me with my studies."

"Well, I wouldn't mind helping you sometime if I can. I suppose you're right, though. I'm juggling quite a bit right now." Erwin sighed, and then he lowered his voice a bit. "Don't let yourself get frustrated, love. I know the stress you must be going through right now. Remember, it's okay to spend that money I gave to you if you need it."

Levi smiled a little bit, feeling better now about accepting the money. "I know. Thanks, Erwin. Hey, are you okay with Farlan being here?"

"Now that I know what your relationship with him is, yes. It was just the first time I've heard his voice, and as it was unfamiliar to me, I..." Erwin paused, and he sounded somewhat embarrassed when he spoke again. "I sounded like a jealous bastard when I asked, didn't I?"

"A little, yeah." Levi smirked. "It's okay. I'd have reacted the same way if I expected you to be home alone and heard some strange guy in the background. I'll give you a pass."

"So long as you understand," said Erwin. "I'd better get back to what I was doing so that I'll have enough time to get sleep for tomorrow. With luck, I'll see you right on schedule Saturday."

"Okay. Good luck with...whatever the hell you're doing. Night, blondie."

"Goodnight, my Levi."

Levi blushed again. He wondered if he'd ever stop doing that when Erwin referred to him that way. The man had a knack for shaking his composure in ways others could not. Maybe it was because Erwin was so thoughtful with him and Levi just wasn't used to that. He breathed a sigh and he put his phone away, and then he re-joined his guest out in the living room.

"So how'd it go?" Farlan asked. "Your face is pink."

"No it isn't," insisted Levi, though he knew it was the truth. He should have waited a minute for his cheeks to cool before coming back out.

* * *

Mike's detective friend didn't get back to him by the time Erwin and Hange were finished with their business trip. Erwin brushed it off for now, asking Mike to let him know when he heard something. Mike dropped them back off at the airport, and the exhausted pair boarded and went right to sleep as soon as they were settled into business class. They landed at home ten minutes later than expected, but at least the weather wasn't bad enough to cause any major delays. Erwin went straight to the car rental service rather than call up a cab right away, and out of the small selection available, he picked a hatchback. He drove Hange home, wished her goodnight and went to his apartment.

Come morning, Erwin woke up with a start to his clock alarm. He'd forgotten to turn it off before going to sleep, and he fumbled for it in a stupor to disarm it. He realized how hard he must have slept when he checked his phone and found three text messages: one from Levi and two from Mike. Levi just wished him goodnight and said he'd see him soon. Mike's first text was to inform him that he'd talked to his associate, and the second was to tell him that the man would be contacting him sometime today.

 _"Were you going to give me the name of this detective?"_ Erwin sent back to his friend. He waited for a few minutes, and when he almost nodded off he decided he'd best have a shower and a coffee to wake himself up.

Erwin did some cleaning up around his place before lunch, and when he still didn't hear anything back from Mike, he went to the grocery store to pick up what he needed for the dinner he'd promised Levi. He called his lover while he was there to ask if he wanted anything else, but he got Levi's voicemail. Erwin left him a message, and he added a selection of fruit juice to his cart that he thought Levi might enjoy. He also picked up a bottle of wine and—just in case—another tube of personal lubricant.

Erwin took a nap after that, and when the alarm woke him up at five, he prepped everything for the meal and got dressed for his date. He still hadn't heard anything back from Mike yet, so he assumed the man was just too busy to correspond. He took his rental car to the Cheshire Grin to pick up his date, and he smiled when he found Levi already waiting outside the main entrance for him. Levi was dressed casual but nicely in a light gray button-up shirt, blue jeans and a pair of black loafers. He slung his windbreaker jacket over his shoulder as Erwin pulled up, and he approached the car when he recognized the blond driving it.

"Quite a change from what I usually see you driving," remarked Levi. He opened the passenger door and got into the little red hatchback, and then he leaned in for a kiss before buckling up. "How does it drive?"

"A little rough compared to what I'm used to, but my car should be ready by Wednesday."

Erwin pulled out onto the road, and he noticed the way Levi tensed when another car passed by them in the other lane. He didn't call attention to it. Now that he thought about it, Levi frequently chose the bus or walking in favor of riding in cars. It never occurred to him until now that he might prefer those methods of travel because the accident he'd had in his car had made him wary of them.

When Erwin pulled to a stop at a red light and a car with a souped-up engine made a ruckus crossing in front of them, Levi grabbed hold of his seat with both hands. Erwin looked at him with concern, and it was then that he realized this fresh anxiety his lover was displaying wasn't the norm, even if Levi was a bit skittish about riding in cars.

"Levi," said the blond gently, reaching out to take one of the smaller man's clutching hands in his own. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah. Fine."

Levi let go of the seat, allowing Erwin to squeeze his hand. It felt clammy. Erwin frowned, unconvinced. He chose not to argue with him about it, though. Pressuring Levi wasn't the way to handle him. He patted his hand, and he made sure to drive carefully so as not to trigger further anxiety in his companion.

* * *

Levi felt much better once they arrived at Erwin's apartment building and got out of the car. It was silly to think the driver would know what kind of car Erwin was driving now. He'd just rented it last night. Still, Levi had been on the lookout the whole way there, unable to shake the fear that it would come at them while they were on the road and have another go at it. It surprised him that he would be so unnerved, but he admitted to himself that his fear was for Erwin's safety.

"Make yourself comfortable," offered Erwin once they made it into the living room. He opened up the cabinet space in his big oaken coffee table, and he handed Levi the remote to the flat screen television situated over the mantle of his faux fireplace. "I'll go and get dinner started. Would you like something to drink? I have a better selection now."

Levi nearly asked for juice or some green tea, but his nerves were shot and he thought he could use something stronger. "How about a glass of wine?"

Erwin raised a brow subtly. "That's unusual for you."

Levi shrugged. "I drink it sometimes. This seems like the right occasion."

Erwin smiled. "Wine, it is. I did pick up a bottle I've been meaning to try for a while, but I have a selection of others. What would you prefer? A Shiraz? Chiante? Chardonnay? Zinfandel?"

"I don't know what any of that means," admitted Levi with a bare smirk. "I usually just get the house wine if I have any when I'm eating out. You pick."

"All right. Let's hope I know your tastes well enough to choose a good one for you. Since we're having salmon, a full-bodied white wine would be best, I think."

Levi shrugged. "You're the chef tonight. I'll take your word for it."

"Then I'll take a gamble and we'll try the Pinot Noir I purchased today. It should be chilled enough now. Just relax and let me take care of everything tonight."

Levi clicked on the TV set and started trying to work out the remote control while Erwin went back into the kitchen to fetch the wine. "Oi, don't worry about getting too fancy," called the younger man. "You're probably still jetlagged."

"I've already got everything prepped," came the answer from the kitchen. "It's not all that much effort."

Levi heard a cork pop, followed by the sound of liquid being poured. Erwin came back in with two wine glasses; one of which he offered to Levi. He had a seat beside him, and he clinked his glass against the smaller man's. "Cheers."

"Yeah, cheers." Levi took an experimental sip, swished it around in his mouth. "Not bad. I can drink this."

"I'll take that as a glowing rave," said Erwin with a smirk. He took a sip himself, and then he got back up. "I'll get it started now. You know where the bathrooms are if you need to use it, don't you?"

"I know where the one next to your bedroom is," answered Levi with a sensual glance at him. "Didn't see much of the rest of the place, though."

"Ah, right." Erwin grinned at him. "Well, after dinner I should give you the full tour. I forgot that this is only the second time you've been here."

Levi nodded, and he looked around at the living room. Erwin had good taste in decor. Not too expensive, but elegant and uncluttered. The couch was cream colored suede, the floor was tiled and there was a big square designer rug in the center of it with white, brown and tan swirled patterns on it. White walls, spotlights in the ceiling over the artificial fireplace, plenty of books shelved on either side of it. The place had an elegant yet welcoming feel to it. Levi had barely caught a glimpse of it the last time he was there. He decided he liked it.

Curious to see if the armchair and recliner were as comfortable as the couch they matched, Levi switched seats and tried them out. They were just as comfortable. He flipped through the channels once he figured out how to access the satellite service, and he found a program about military history that caught his interest. Soon the aroma of cooking food wafted out from the kitchen, and Levi's stomach started to growl.

The door chimes rang while he was watching the program, followed by a knock. Levi twisted around in the recliner and looked through the foyer, unsure of whether his lover heard it or not. He was a little surprised Erwin didn't have one of those buzzer devices on his wall so he could control who could come up and who couldn't.

"Hey, there's someone at your door," Levi called.

"Would you mind getting it for me? I've got my hands full in here."

Levi shrugged, set his wine glass down on a coaster and got up to see who it was. He tried to look through the peephole, but he found it too high for him to see well through it. Grumbling about how everything seemed to be designed for giant people, he unlocked the bolt and the doorknob to crack the door open.

There was a man on the other side close to Erwin's height waiting on the other side dressed in brown slacks with a black jacket covering his upper body. He had collar-length brown hair with a few gray strands in it, pronounced cheekbones, pale green eyes, and he was around Erwin's age. Handsome enough to look at, there was something vaguely familiar about him that Levi couldn't pinpoint. Raindrops sparkled in his hair and on his jacket, suggesting it was sprinkling outside again.

"Yeah?"

The man regarded Levi briefly, got out his cellular device and checked something on it. "I'm looking for Erwin Smith. Is he at home?"

Levi eyed him with sudden mistrust. "Who wants to know?"

The stranger pulled out a badge and showed it to Levi. "Detective Krueger. I need to speak with Erwin Smith, please."

Levi eyed the badge, somehow keeping his expression neutral despite the shock of having a detective come knocking on his boyfriend's door. "Just a minute."

He closed the door, did an about face and went into the kitchen. "Erwin, this guy outside says he's a detective. Want to tell me what that's all about?"

Erwin nearly dropped the spatula he was using. "What?"

"A detective," repeated Levi. "Says his name's Krueger. He's got a badge and it looks authentic. What's he doing coming here?"

"I...I'm not sure," answered the older man, obviously a little flustered. "Give me a moment to take this apron off and I'll find out. Dinner is nearly ready; the fish just needs to sit for a few minutes."

"All right." Levi waited for Erwin to take off his cooking apron, and he followed him through the apartment to the front door. He leaned back against the wall and watched quietly as his lover opened the door to admit their unexpected guest.

"Erwin Smith?" Krueger asked when the door was opened up.

"Yes, that's me."

"I'm here on behalf of a mutual friend, Mike Zacharius. I'm Detective Eren Krueger. Mind if I come in?"

Erwin shook hands with the man, cast a glance back at Levi, and then spoke in a low voice. "Could we discuss this in the hallway, Detective?"

"No, let him come in," Levi said coolly, again suspecting that Erwin had been keeping something from him. "Whatever he's got to say, he can say it in front of me."

Erwin sighed, and he gestured invitingly for the other man to come in. He took Krueger's jacket for him and hung it up, and he offered him a seat in the living room. Giving Levi a subtly apologetic look, Erwin sat down on the couch. Levi joined him as the detective took the armchair.

"Detective Krueger, this is my partner Levi," introduced Erwin.

"I know." Krueger nodded briefly at the younger man, and then he affixed Erwin with his stare. "I can tell I've interrupted something, so I'll get straight to business. I assume Mike told you I would be contacting you?"

"Yes, but he didn't give me a name or a time," said Erwin. He avoided Levi's gaze. "We were just about to sit down to dinner and I had no notification that you were coming at this hour. Are you sure this can't wait until tomorrow?"

Krueger blinked at him. "Well, why not? My time isn't valuable. I've only been out investigating crime, after all."

Erwin's earlobes turned pink, and Levi raised his brows. The barista nudged his lover a little roughly, fed up with the secrecy. "What did you do, Erwin?"

The blond sighed, and he turned to face Levi. "I have a work associate who used to be in the police force. While I was away on my business trip, we discussed what happened that day in the parking lot and Mike threw some lines out and got some information. He reviewed satellite feeds from that day, and he thinks it's possible that the driver did deliberately target my car. He said he would see if he could get a local detective he used to work with on it, and that's what Mr. Krueger is here about."

Levi gave him a confused look. "Why the hell didn't you just say so? Damn, I thought you were in trouble or something."

"He probably didn't say anything because your former boyfriend is one of two possible suspects I'm going to be looking into," announced Krueger.

Levi's head whipped to look at the detective again. "Jackson?"

Erwin rubbed his forehead. "Yes, though I have my doubts that he was involved in it. Mike advised me to have him investigated anyway, simply because he has a possible motive."

"And you weren't gonna tell me about this?" Levi scowled. "That's why you were asking for his last name, isn't it?"

"I was trying to think of how to tell you," defended Erwin, "and I wasn't even sure I would go through with the investigation."

"Before you get into a domestic spat," said Krueger before Levi could open his mouth, "I do have other places to be. Mike said that you wanted to talk to me yourself, Mr. Smith, and he suggested you would prefer to meet me in person. Well, here I am. If you have questions for me, now is the time to ask them."

Erwin examined Krueger quietly for a moment, and Levi waited while he considered the man. Finally, Erwin nodded. "My only question is this: what would be the next step if you should find some proof that either suspect was involved?"

"I would turn in the evidence and they would process the paperwork for an arrest warrant," answered Krueger. "As for your part, you'll probably have to show up in court if there's a trial and testify against them. You've already filed the collision report with the police and your insurance will have a statement available for damages. If the arrest happens and the suspect is found guilty, they'll face appropriate charges."

"Would they go to jail?" Levi asked.

"That depends on what charges get brought up against them and whether they can pay whatever court-ordered fines and compensation they'll owe. Since nobody was injured, it's likely they'll just be heavily fined and lose their drivers' license. It also depends on how good your lawyer is. There are a lot of factors."

"What if they're really intent on hurting Erwin?" pressed Levi. "If he'd been in that car, he could have been crushed."

"If the perp is suspected of being a true danger to Mr. Smith's safety, additional measures can be taken. Restraining orders, court-ordered psychological evaluations and the like. Let's cross that bridge when we come to it."

"You should have just told me about this," groused Levi, again addressing his lover. "Did you ever consider that I could help with information on Jackson?"

"That thought did cross my mind," Erwin said, his voice now becoming tense with frustration. "I wanted to test the waters first. I wasn't sure how you would feel about it."

"I would have wanted to help," insisted Levi. If Erwin only knew...but he wasn't about to talk about his own little investigation while the detective was there. "If Jackson might have something to do with this, I would rather have him checked out than leave you at risk, you idiot."

Erwin's vivid blue gaze fell on Levi again, sharpening. "Are you sure? You wouldn't feel like you were betraying him?"

Levi's expression went still, his eyes alone revealing the hurt he felt at that question. He'd already betrayed Jackson...with Erwin. Maybe Erwin didn't mean it that way, but to Levi, it was a reminder that he'd cheated on the man with him, and it felt like Erwin believed Levi would put his safety at risk to salve a guilty conscience.

"If someone I knew was threatening someone else I know, I'd step in," Levi said stonily, "no matter how I feel or _used_ to feel about the aggressor. I can tell this guy everything he needs to know about Jackson."

"Oh, really?" Krueger leaned back in the chair, regarding Levi with interest. "Are you sure about that? You know... _everything_ about him?"

"I know enough," snapped Levi, uncomfortable with that question. Hadn't he just found out the other day that Jackson had some habits he'd never known about? It was embarrassing. "Enough to give you a good head start. Do you want the information or not?"

Krueger shrugged. "Sometimes the lover or spouse is the last one to find out who their partner really is. I'll take what you can give me, though. I've already got his home and work addresses. If you've got insight on where he likes to spend his time outside of that, it might be useful."

Levi faltered, and it was his turn to look at his boyfriend with hesitation. He was stuck though; he'd opened his mouth and he couldn't take it back. "Jackson likes to go to the casino sometimes. His favorite one is Golden Palms. He also likes live shows. Musicals, plays, that kind of shit. He's got expensive taste in ugly art and likes to flaunt it. He always goes to museums featuring that crap that looks like a clown vomited on a canvas but sells for more than the price of a car."

Krueger was taking it all down on a notepad. "Anything else?"

Levi sighed. "Yeah. I don't know how long he's been doing it, but he's gained a taste for the sleazy hangouts in the south side of town. There's a dive bar called Brady's and a gay strip joint on twelve south and eighteenth. Can't remember the name of the place, but—"

"Jollies," interrupted the detective. "Yeah, that place is well known with the precinct. A lot of busts get made around there. All right, anything else?"

Levi shook his head, trying not to react to the way Erwin was now scrutinizing him. He was probably wondering if Levi met Jackson in that strip place. Probably thought Levi was renting himself out to make ends meet. He could feel his face burning, and wasn't sure if it was from anger over the thoughts he imagined going through Erwin's mind or humiliation.

"Well if that's it, I'll be going. I'll contact you if I have any further questions or find any significant evidence, Mr. Smith."

Erwin got up with the detective, and he retrieved his jacket for him. "Thank you, Detective. Have a good night."

* * *

After the detective left, they sat down in the dining room to eat the dinner Erwin had repaired. It was tense. The air was heavy with silence, but for the sound of the silverware against the plates. Erwin finally said something after having a sip of his wine.

"How is it?"

Levi glanced up at him, and he nodded. "Really good."

"I'm glad."

The atmosphere became pregnant with silence again. Frustrated by how the night was turning out, Erwin made the decision to try and salvage it. "I really didn't expect him to just show up like that. I was going to approach you with the subject tonight, since I never got a call."

"I get it." Levi met his eyes again, and he sighed. "Well, lay it on me."

Erwin frowned. "Pardon?"

"You want to know about the strip club, right? Want to know if I used to work there? Maybe sucked some cock before I got with Jackson?"

Erwin calmly set his fork down, and he shook his head, keeping his gaze on Levi's. "That thought never entered my mind, Levi."

The younger man looked suspicious. "Not even a little?"

"No. You aren't the type."

"Are you sure about that? Krueger even said the partner can be the last to know about things like that."

Erwin gave him a smile, though he ached inside when he saw the pain in his lover's eyes. He didn't understand it yet, but he meant to find out. "All right, you tell me. Did you do any of those things you think I suspect?"

"No."

"I believe you," assured Erwin. "What caught my attention wasn't mention of the strip club, Levi. You said you didn't know how long he's been going there. That struck me as odd; not because you never mentioned it to me before, but because you made it sound as though it was a very recent discovery. You were also very hesitant when you brought it up, and your body language was guarded."

Levi had a look on his face that was half annoyed and half trapped. He put his head in his hands. "Shit. I didn't know it was so obvious. Well, I was going to tell you anyway, so it might as well be now. I just didn't want to say it in front of that guy because it might have ended up in an argument."

Erwin waited patiently, though he was now on pins and needles to find out what the hell this was leading into. He let the younger man collect himself, and he reminded himself that he was talking to a person that had trust issues. Levi seemed to expect disappointment and hurt around every corner.

"All right," said Levi at last. "I didn't tell you the truth about what I was doing with Farlan Thursday night."

Erwin's heart nearly stopped, and he felt the crushing weight of despair. He'd let himself believe that Levi would never do this to him, but it sure as hell sounded like he was about to confess to sleeping with Farlan. What that had to do with his ex going to a strip club he couldn't even imagine. "What...were you doing?"

"We weren't researching some college assignment," Levi went on. "I reacted that way when I talked about the dive bar and the strip club because I only found out about them Thursday."

Erwin's mind jumped to a conclusion, because he was feeling desperate to hear anything except that Levi fucked someone else while he was out of town. "So you and Farlan went to these places for some fun, and you ran into Jackson there?"

Levi's eyelids drooped. "Tch. You think I'd go somewhere that filthy for fun?"

"I don't know how filthy either place was," reasoned Erwin. "I've never heard of them."

For a brief moment, Levi's mouth twitched into a little smirk. "I didn't think you would have. Anyway, me and Farlan didn't go there on an outing. We followed Jackson after he got off work."

"Meaning you were..."

"Spying on him," finished Levi. "Yeah. I guess you and I both had the same idea, we just conducted it differently."

Erwin was frankly amazed, and any doubts he had about whether Levi would put him before his ex vanished. He had to be sure he wasn't misunderstanding, though. "You did this because you thought he might be involved in the car incident?"

Levi shrugged. "I thought it was possible. He was a possessive, jealous guy when we were together and by now he's bound to have found out I'm seeing someone else. I figured if he found out it's the same guy that socked the shit out of him the day before I broke things off, he'd want some revenge. I called up Farlan and he came and got me around the time Jackson gets off work. We followed him when he didn't show any sign of injury, because I thought he might have paid someone else to ram that car into yours. I wanted to see if he'd meet up with anyone."

"I see. I assume he didn't?"

Levi shook his head. "No. If he paid someone to do it, he must've given them the money that night or transferred it some other way. I should have known better than to think he'd meet up with them in person; he's smarter than that. He wouldn't want to be seen talking to them anywhere if they ever got caught. That's assuming he did it at all. I think Farlan was right; I wasn't thinking straight. I just felt like I had to see if he was doing anything shady."

Erwin started to smile.

"What?" Levi demanded.

"You freaked out over the possibility of him trying to hurt me," answered the blond.

"I didn't...well, I might have a little. Obviously I didn't know the asshole as well as I thought I did, so I couldn't shake the thought that maybe he was capable of pulling together something like that."

"And you didn't tell me about it," chided Erwin, raising a meaningful brow.

Levi averted his gaze. "No. I didn't want you to get the wrong idea and think I was obsessing over him or something. Let's face it; I'd have looked like a stalker to anyone that saw me doing that."

"So, we both looked into this guy because we shared a suspicion that he might be responsible for what happened to my car," reasoned Erwin, now both amused and relieved, "and we both avoided telling one another out of fear of how the other would react."

Levi met his eyes again, and there was a hint of contrition in his expression. "Yeah, that sounds about right. Only I'm worse, because I'm a hypocrite. I chewed you out in front of that detective for keeping it from me, and I was doing the same damned thing."

"Well, I can understand why you wouldn't want to mention to him that you'd conducted your own civilian stakeout." Erwin had another drink of his wine, and he got up to refresh both their glasses. "In any case, if that detective hadn't shown up when he did, we might have had the chance to talk about this more freely. Are we okay now, Levi?"

"Yeah," agreed the younger man. He sounded relieved as well. "I'm okay if you are."

"I'm okay," assured Erwin.

He was more than okay. Levi wasn't breaking up with him or cheating on him, and he cared enough about him to go behind his back and spy on his ex. That was worth having his car damaged. Erwin sat back down to finish eating, and he watched Levi thoughtfully.

"Are you completely opposed to stripping, or was it just the condition of the environment you found repulsive?"

Levi paused with a bite of rice partway to his lips. "Eh? What do you mean? Are you asking if I'd mind you going to a strip club?"

"Not exactly." Erwin looked him up and down. "More like I'm asking if you would object to giving a private performance."

"Oh. I guess not. I've done that before. I mean with boyfriends, not strangers or anything. Shit, I shouldn't have said that. What a stupid thing to admit to on a date."

"I asked," reminded Erwin, intrigued. "I can handle the knowledge that there are things you've done with previous lovers, just as there are things I've done. What I want to know is what you're willing to do with _me_. Do you find the idea debasing?"

"I'm not sure," confessed the smaller man uncomfortably. "It depends on what exactly your asking for. If you want me to dress up in something weird and tweak for you, I'm out."

"I'm not suggesting that," laughed the blond, "I just wonder if you would mind giving me a strip tease sometime."

"Just take my clothes off and maybe rub up against you?" Levi shrugged. "I think that could be arranged."

"Mm, perhaps a lap dance too?" Erwin really liked that idea, especially if Levi happened be wearing a pair of those little cut-off shorts.

"Sure. I'll do that." Levi smirked at him, and he finished off his rice before speaking again. "Oh yeah, some guys mistook me and Farlan for rent boys while we were outside at the strip club."

Erwin's expression fell. "Rent boys as in..."

"Male prostitutes." Levi had a sip of his wine, shook his head and rolled his eyes. "One of them came right up to me and asked how much I charged."

Erwin stood up. "Did he?"

Levi's amusement faded. "Well, we were standing in the alley so Jackson wouldn't spot us when he came back out. I guess that's the spot for that kind of shit over there. We didn't know, and we thought those two guys were just coming that way for a spot to piss."

Erwin made himself sit back down. "Are you all right? Is this why you seemed so skittish in the car on the way here?"

"I'm okay," Levi assured him, "and I wasn't 'skittish'. Just a little wired from the coffee I had at work."

Erwin didn't quite believe that excuse. "Did either of these men lay hands on you, Levi?"

The bartender lowered his gaze.

"Levi, did they? Did they hurt you or try to do anything to you?"

The gray eyes met his again, and they suddenly softened on him. "You're asking if they touched me because you're worried about me?"

"Of course. You've just told me you got propositioned in an alley. I can't help but feel some concern."

"Don't be worried. The one that asked my price did try to grab my ass, but I kicked him in the face. He lost interest after that."

For a moment, Erwin wondered if Levi was being sarcastic. He knew deep down his lover was capable of doing as he described, though. It was another of those certainties that Erwin couldn't logically explain.

"I wish I could have seen that," said the blond. He sighed over his own behavior. "I'm being overly protective, aren't I?"

Levi considered that, and he cocked his head. "I think there's a difference between feeling protective of someone and treating them like property. You don't make me feel like it's the latter, with you."

Erwin reached across the table to squeeze Levi's hand. "I'm glad. I do suffer jealous impulses at times, however. You need to know that."

"But you don't act out because of it," Levi pointed out. "You don't make accusations, you don't try to police how I dress or where I go, and you don't have me followed to keep tabs on me."

"Someone had you followed?"

Levi brushed it off. "It was years ago and I put a stop to it once I figured it out. The point is you don't do any of that crazy shit. Don't take this the wrong way, but part of me keeps waiting for you to snap somehow and change on me."

Erwin groaned softly. "And I'm sure I made a wonderful impression just moments ago."

"You had me bracing at first," agreed Levi, "but then you opened your mouth and I knew it was okay. By the way, I've got jealous impulses too."

"Do you?"

Levi nodded. "Yeah. Remember when I called you up after you stopped showing at the Cheshire Grin? I asked if you were dating someone, because I didn't want to make a fool of myself trying to get together with you if you were already taken."

"Yes, and I thought you were dating Farlan." Erwin smiled, though he suffered a pang of guilt for his earlier panicked suspicions concerning Levi and the blond. "Go on."

"Well it made me sick to think of you with someone else." Levi stabbed into his remaining salmon with his fork. "Made me miserable, in fact. I don't usually get that bad, but you bring it out in me."

Erwin sobered a bit, his gaze warming on Levi. "Then it's not too much of a stretch to say that we're both crazy about each other," he reasoned.

"No, not too much of a stretch," agreed Levi.

* * *

-To be continued


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Love you, Froststick! I hope you feel better soon.

Levi fully expected them to have sex after dinner, but both he and Erwin were worn out from stress and in Erwin's case, jet-lag as well. Erwin invited him to stay the night, and Levi of course accepted. He'd even thought to bring a change of underwear with him in the pocket of his jacket just in case. He'd almost packed a backpack with a full change of clothes and personal toiletries, but he thought that would be a little presumptuous of him and put too much pressure on Erwin.

They sat down on the couch in the living room together, each with a glass of wine from what remained of the bottle Erwin had opened. Levi took his shoes off and curled up close to his lover, tucking his legs up on the couch. Erwin put an arm around him, drawing him closer for a cuddle. He'd turned on television and tuned into the weather station, of all things.

"Why are we watching this?" asked Levi before having a sip of his wine. He was feeling drowsy from the meal and the wine, and he was finding it a little hard to keep his eyes open.

"I want to see what the forecast is for next week." Erwin nuzzled Levi's hair before continuing. "There's an outdoor company picnic coming up on Wednesday. I'm hoping it will get rained out."

"Heh, not a picnic lover, eh?"

Erwin shrugged. "I've got nothing against spending time outdoors. I like to go windsurfing from time to time when conditions favor it, and I also jog. I just make it a point to limit my outdoor activities during the hottest part of the day. Fall is coming, but the summer heat is going to linger for a while before we feel significant and consistent changes in the temperature. The picnic is scheduled from noon to three."

"Smack-dab in the middle of the day." Levi grimaced with distaste. "I can't blame you for hoping it gets rained out."

Erwin sighed when they gave the forecast for the week ahead. "Looks like Wednesday is predicted to be sunny. So much for my hopes."

"You never know. With the way the weather acts here, they can't accurately predict more than a day ahead of time. Even then it hardly ever does what they think it's going to do. They said tonight was supposed to be partly cloudy and hot, but it's been raining steadily since dinner and the temperature's gone down."

"You have a point," admitted Erwin. "Maybe I'll luck out after all. By the way, Levi; what is your schedule on Wednesday?"

"I've got a late shift. Other than that, I've got no plans. Why?"

"I was just thinking about the company picnic," explained Erwin. "We're allowed to bring one person each if we want to. Would you be interested in going with me, assuming we don't get unexpected storms?"

If it had been anyone else, Levi would have probably turned them down. Going to an outside event in the heat of the day this time of year wasn't his idea of fun. However, it was Erwin and he was asking Levi to join him in a company event...which was a pretty big deal. It meant he intended to be open about their relationship, to introduce him as his boyfriend to coworkers and friends. He wasn't trying to stash away their relationship like some dirty little secret.

"Sure," Levi found himself saying. He couldn't stop staring at his boyfriend's earnest expression. Erwin really seemed to want him there at this picnic. "As long as I make it to the tea bar by five, I'm good."

Erwin gave him one of those dazzling, white smiles. "Excellent. I'll pick you up at lunchtime, then. You being there will make it much more bearable."

Levi almost cracked a smile. "Hope it's okay to wear shorts to this thing."

"Of course...although..." Erwin paused with a slight frown, his thick brows furrowing.

"I won't wear the short shorts," assured Levi, guessing where this was going. Erwin was too polite to say it, but he figured out his consternation.

"Don't get me wrong," Erwin said, "I would be happy to see you in those little cut-offs again, but..."

"Hey, it's all right." Levi smirked, amused and a little happy that his lover was trying not to police his dressing habits. "I may not be the corporate type, but I understand dress codes. I've got a pair of suitable shorts I can wear that won't make me look like a male tramp. I'll even ditch the combat boots. Wouldn't want to embarrass you."

Erwin cupped his chin, looking faintly relieved. "Thank you, Levi. On the subject of embarrassment, however, I think if you showed up in your usual summer attire you might just make people envy me."

"How many gay people do you work with?"

Erwin chuckled. "I'm really not sure, but I'd place a wager that the sight of you might flip a few that might be teetering on the edge."

Levi's face warmed. "Whatever. So do they all know about you? I mean do they know you're gay?"

"For a while now," confessed the blond. "I've never made a secret of it. This will only be the second time I've brought a date to a company gathering, though."

"Seriously?"

Erwin nodded. "Seriously. It isn't really the sort of event my previous lovers showed much interest in. I hope you don't find it too boring."

"I'll have you there with me, so that should be enough."

Realizing what he'd just said, Levi decided it was time to change the subject. "I'd better go brush my teeth. I'm pretty tired."

Erwin watched him with a little smile. Levi tried to brush it off, but the look on the man's face made that giddy feeling return again.

* * *

Erwin awoke in the dead of the night to a very strange occurrence. A ragged gasp disturbed his sleep, followed by frantic patting against his right arm. Disoriented, he jerked awake and he found Levi sitting up beside him on the bed. The younger man kept patting at Erwin's arm and squeezing it. Levi's eyes were wide and staring in the dim light coming through the blinds from the street lamps outside. His lips were parted, and he kept making those odd, panicked noises.

"Levi?" Erwin sat up with a frown, thinking at first the other man must have seen a spider in the bed or something.

"It's here," Levi said. "It's not gone." He gave Erwin's arm another squeeze, kneading his way up the shoulder as if to reaffirm something.

"Are you asleep?" Erwin reached out to wave a hand before his lover's blank gaze. He snapped his fingers. "Levi, are you dreaming that you lost something?"

The smaller man's eyes focused on him, and he looked like he'd been struck over the head for a moment. He slowly glanced down at Erwin's bare arm, then back up at the blond's face. His brows pinched.

"I...had a nightmare," supplied Levi.

"That's what I thought." Erwin squeezed his hand. "What about? You got really worked up."

Levi rubbed his forehead, and he winced. "I can't remember. Did I say anything?"

"You seemed like you were looking for something, and for some reason you were searching for it on my arm. You kept patting at it and you said: _'It's here, it's not gone'_."

"Your...arm?" Levi's eyes dropped to the arm in question again.

"You're shivering," observed Erwin. He pulled the smaller man closer, nuzzling his hair. "It must have been an intense nightmare, whatever it was about."

"It was bad," agreed Levi, "I just can't remember what the fuck it was about. I only remember feeling rage and frustration, and then a sense of loss I've never felt before. Made me want to scream, but I couldn't because...because of some damned reason. Something to do with responsibility, like if I fell apart, everything else around me would fall apart too."

Erwin thought about the description. "Have you lost someone important to you in the past few years? A relative or a friend? Sometimes we repress our feelings in those moments, and they come back to haunt us later when we least expect it."

"No, nothing that would account for this. I've seen some people I know get buried and a couple of relatives I hardly knew, but this was..." Levi sighed, shaking his head. "Maybe it's just stress. The shit with the car, school, work, finances."

"That could cause some anxiety," agreed Erwin. He tilted his head. "You're having financial troubles?"

"Nothing I can't handle," insisted Levi. "I've just got to watch my electric bill more closely."

"I could help—"

"No." Levi shook his head. "It's nice of you to offer, but I'll be all right."

He shivered again, and he laid his head on Erwin's shoulder. He rubbed the blond's right arm again. "Sorry for mauling you. I don't have any idea why I did that."

"You were more asleep than awake," excused Erwin. He laid back down, and he drew his companion down beside him. "Maybe in your confused state you mistook my arm for something else you lost in your dream."

"Hmm, maybe." Levi was calmer now, and he pillowed his head against the arm he'd been so worked up about when Erwin embraced him. Levi rested his hand over it, almost like he was reassuring himself it was there.

"Do you want to take something to help you sleep?" offered Erwin softly.

"No, the wine should help with that, and I shouldn't take anything after drinking it anyway."

"Ah, good point." Erwin pulled him closer, hoping that Levi would feel secure enough in his arms not to be troubled by more nightmares.

"Hey, do you think the wine could have done it?" Levi murmured, just as Erwin was starting to drift back off into sleep. "I don't drink the stuff very often."

"Maybe. I would say avoid wine for a while. If it happens again before you've had any, you'll know that isn't it."

Levi pressed his face against the bigger man's neck. "Yeah, I'll do that. Goodnight, blondie."

* * *

Levi was sorely regretting not having sex with Erwin the night before. He woke up with a morning stiffy, and he found his companion's side of the bed empty. He heard something clattering around in the kitchen, and he got out of the bed and put his shirt on over his underwear before he went to check it out. Erwin was up and dressed in his black robe. He had a salad bowl filled with a selection of fruit sitting out on the island counter, a couple of eating bowls with spoons and a container of plain yogurt. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee lingered in the air.

"Good morning," greeted the blond with a smile.

Levi self-consciously ran his fingers through his hair. He hadn't even combed it yet, and Erwin looked immaculate. As Levi stepped closer, he detected the scent of his lover's aftershave and he impulsively leaned closer to nuzzle his throat.

"Early bird," accused Levi.

"My internal clock is set for work hours." Erwin gave him a squeeze, and then he nodded at the bar stools. "Why don't you have some breakfast? Or if you prefer, you can go back to bed. We both have the day off, so you're welcome to sleep in for as long as you want."

It was a tempting offer, considering Erwin had central air conditioning and Levi was able to bundle up under the covers here without sweating his ass off. He did need to get home eventually though and do at least a little studying.

"It's okay, I'm awake now." Levi took one of the bowls and spoons, and he scooped up some of the yogurt before selecting slices of banana, kiwi fruit and some blueberries to mix with it.

"There's honey also," offered Erwin with a nod at the bottle near the fruit.

Levi squirted some of it on, and he plopped down on a bar stool to start eating it. Erwin poured two cups of coffee, fixed himself a bowl and sat down beside him. "This is a gift for you," informed the blond, sliding Levi's mug over to him. "I meant to give it to you sooner, but things have been hectic."

Levi checked out the coffee mug. It was black with white lettering on it. _"Coffee gets you moving,"_ he read aloud.

"Turn the mug around and look at the other side," suggested Erwin with a dry smirk.

Levi did as he advised. The other side of the mug had a cartoon-ish image of a toilet on it. "Oh, I get it. Heh."

"I thought it was cute." Erwin had a test sip of his coffee, and he added some honey to it. "It did make me think of you when I saw it."

"I guess I talk about shit a lot. I'll try not to do that at your picnic."

Erwin chuckled. "You aren't that bad. I'm sure some people at the picnic will knock back a few cold ones and get loose tongues themselves."

"At least they'd have the excuse of drinking. My tongue's loose all the time."

Erwin grinned at him.

"What?" Levi took a bite of kiwi fruit.

"Tongues that curl like yours aren't what I would call 'loose'."

Levi coughed and swallowed, fighting a little smile. "It's too early in the morning for sexy humor."

"I didn't realize we had a schedule for it." Erwin leaned in to kiss Levi on the ear. "I couldn't resist."

"I walked right into it," conceded Levi. Thankfully the shirt he'd thought to put back on covered him to the top of his thighs and concealed his lingering boner.

"Did you sleep all right?" Erwin asked. "No more nightmares, I hope?"

Levi paused with a spoonful of the fruit and yogurt mixture partway to his lips. His eyes impulsively latched onto the his companion's right arm again. "None that I can remember."

"You're looking at my arm again," observed Erwin.

Levi shook himself out of it. "Yeah. I don't know why, though."

"Maybe you had a nightmare that it was chasing you."

"Tch, that's ridiculous." Levi turned in his stool, and he forced himself not to eyeball his lover's perfectly toned but perfectly normal arm again. "You mean like some crazy b-movie horror flick? If that was the case, why would I have been grabbing it and patting it the way you said I was? That would be a weird way to act if I was scared of your arm."

Erwin's mouth twitched with subtle amusement. "All right, that was a long shot. It just worried me to see you that way. I'm the sort of man that likes to find answers when I have questions. I do wonder though if it has something to do with..." Erwin trailed off, and he glanced at Levi sharply.

"You've got to finish your sentences," grumbled Levi. "Do with what?"

Erwin turned to face him fully, and he looked him in the eye. "Levi, is it possible that—and try not to laugh too hard if I'm being too presumptuous—your nightmare was directly related to the car incident? You expressed concern to me last night over the possibility of someone being out to hurt me. You were jumpy during the ride here from the tea house, and you've experienced a bad car accident yourself in the past. What if your nightmare was about me being in a car accident and losing that arm? That might explain it."

The younger man dropped his gaze to the arm again, uncertain. He did have a fear of that mystery driver trying to come after Erwin again, and if the blond _had_ been getting into his car or trying to pull out at the time, he very well could have been mutilated or killed. Were his feelings for Erwin Smith really that powerful, to provoke such devastating emotions from a single nightmare?

"I don't know. Maybe. It doesn't feel like a car crash was involved, but..."

Levi looked into his boyfriend's eyes again; such familiar, beautiful eyes.

_~But those feelings were too real. Like they really happened some time and I just can't remember when, and why can't I stop checking the goddamned arm to make sure it's there?~_

"I just wish I could remember," sighed Levi at last, afraid to say what he was thinking out loud. He'd come off sounding like a crackpot and scare Erwin off if he blurted out that he'd lost him once and didn't want to lose him again. That didn't even make any sense.

"I've upset you pushing the matter," Erwin said softly.

"No, I'm all right." Levi tried to play it more casual. "You were just curious, and I don't blame you after I freaked out like that."

"Worried," corrected Erwin, "but I'll let the matter drop. I'd like to spend a nice Sunday with you, if you're willing to stick around for a while."

Levi nodded. Maybe he'd get laid before he went home after all.

* * *

Erwin heard back from Mike after breakfast. Levi was in the shower, and Erwin cursed Mike's bad timing. He'd been prepared to join his lover and try to initiate some morning delight to take both their minds off recent events. Now he was probably going to miss his chance.

"Good morning," Erwin greeted his friend, deciding he'd better take the call while Mike had the time to spare. "Your detective showed up last night while I was in the middle of a date."

"Oh yeah?" Mike asked. "I gave him your number."

"Well, he didn't call or text to give me any notification of when he was coming." Erwin sat down on one of the recliners in his living room. "Still, I appreciate the help. He's on the case."

"Good. Sorry I never called you back. I was up to my nose in paperwork."

"If there's one thing I understand and can forgive, it's being swamped with paperwork." Erwin leaned back and put his feet up. "So will you be in contact with me or is Detective Krueger going to call me directly from now on?"

"He should call you directly," answered Mike, "but I'll text you his number in case you need to reach him, okay?"

"That would be fine."

Erwin heard the bathroom door close, and he looked down the hall. Levi came walking out, and Erwin stared at the sight of him. His hair was damp and mussed from being towel-dried. His shirt was damp as well, clinging to his body in all the right places and partway unbuttoned. His jeans were dry and he was barefoot. It seemed odd to Erwin that he would come out in a wet shirt, and he wondered if he'd had a plumbing mishap while in the bathroom.

Levi then started to sway, his heavy-lidded, pale eyes holding Erwin's. There was a promise in that gaze. The winged pendant around Levi's throat glinted against his collarbone, drawing attention to his half-bared chest and peaks of his nipples straining against the fabric of his doused shirt.

"You wanted a strip tease," reminded Levi in a droning voice.

Unable to tear his eyes off the vision before him, Erwin spoke into the phone. His voice cracked like an adolescent's. "Mike, I've got to let you go."

He didn't wait to listen for a response. Erwin terminated the call and tossed his phone carelessly onto the nearby couch. He started to get up, but Levi shook his head and put one bare foot between Erwin's thighs.

"You also wanted a lap dance, so sit back and enjoy it."

Erwin relaxed with a smile, reaching for the remote to his entertainment system. He flipped blindly through the satellite channels until he found one with appropriate music. Up-beat pop didn't really fit Levi, nor did classical. Erwin settled on a new wave station playing something that was faintly gothic, but had a nice beat and melody. It sounded like the sort of music they usually played at the Cheshire Grin.

Erwin relaxed, and he watched as Levi showed him that he could indeed dance sexy, even if he wasn't the clubbing sort. He'd pictured Levi doing this in his shorts, but when the younger man turned around and gyrated his hips slowly, Erwin decided the blue jeans would do just fine. Levi faced him again and began to flick open the rest of the buttons of his shirt, slowly revealing his abs. He didn't open the garment completely, but put on more of a show for his older lover. The lines of his physique were clearly visible through the shirt. Levi made a show of stretching, reaching up and arching his back to display his body more.

"Come here," urged Erwin, his robe quickly tenting under the belt.

Levi procrastinated on obeying the demand. He pulled his shirt the rest of the way open and he slipped it off his shoulders. He peeled the wet material off, revealing his sparkling damp torso in full. He paused his routine all the sudden and looked around with a little frown, then looked at the damp shirt hanging over his right arm.

"Just toss it to the floor." Erwin hid a chuckle behind his hand, amused. "It doesn't matter if the tile gets wet."

The younger man looked a bit torn for a second, and then he shrugged. He dropped the shirt on the part of the living room floor not covered by the rug, and he closed in on Erwin. Crawling onto the recliner with the blond, Levi straddled him. The studs in his ears caught the light, and Erwin teased one of them with his fingertips while his delightful little partner grinded against him. Levi favored him with an open-mouthed kiss. He tasted like mint from recently brushing his teeth. Erwin delved his tongue into Levi's mouth, and he rubbed his outer thighs.

"Is this what you had in mind?" Levi husked. His teeth caught and tugged at Erwin's bottom lip, delaying his response.

"This is better than what I had in mind."

Of course, a skimpy thong would have been nice. It could wait for another time though. This was a treat Erwin wasn't about to question. He let Levi decide when and how to remove his jeans, watching as the other male's fingers reached down to start undoing them.

"I wasn't expecting you to come out in a wet shirt," confessed Erwin breathily. He slipped his hands down the back of Levi's pants when the smaller man got them undone. "Was that by design or accident?"

"I did it on purpose." Levi turned around to straddle Erwin backwards, rubbing his ass against the blond's bulge. "I thought about getting the pants wet too, but that would have made them a bitch to pull off."

Erwin pictured his lover cussing and struggling to get his pants off while trying to look sexy. It made him laugh softly.

"Oi, if you're going to go into hysterics, I'm stopping."

"No, please don't stop." Erwin sobered himself. He could see the flush in Levi's cheek when the smaller man looked back over his toned shoulder to glare at him. "I wasn't laughing at this. It was your wording."

"What, about the pants?" Levi shrugged. "It's the truth."

"Yes, I know." Erwin ran his hands over Levi's smooth back, admiring the muscle tone. "Ignore me, Levi. I'm really enjoying this."

Levi let it go and kept up his act, persuaded by Erwin's encouragement. He slid his pants down just enough to give the other man a glimpse of the top of his ass, and then he rubbed against him again. Erwin groaned, and Levi smirked over his shoulder at him.

"Getting worked up yet, big guy?"

"More than a little," admitted the blond.

He squeezed Levi's ass, his breath quickening. He let his hands circle back around to the other man's front, and he slid them up his ribcage to his chest. Teasing Levi's nipples, Erwin adjusted the chair so that he could sit up straighter. He kissed the back of his companion's neck, and he canted his hips to press his arousal firmly against Levi's backside. It was Levi's turn to lose some of his composure. He gasped and gyrated in Erwin's lap, pushing his ass back and arching his spine to encourage him.

"Levi," husked Erwin, "I don't know how much longer I can take this."

"You're...in luck," gasped Levi. He dug into one of his jeans pockets, pulling out two condoms and a packet of lube. One of said condoms was obviously sized for Erwin, and the other was standard size. "I figured we'd get too turned on to go digging for this stuff. At least, I was hoping so."

"You," Erwin said sincerely, "are wonderful."

"I'm already prepped, too."

"Let me revise that then to wonderful and amazing."

Erwin cupped Levi's jaw while the smaller man started working the bigger condom open. They kissed, and Erwin hastily untied his robe. Levi wasn't even wearing underwear underneath his jeans, he discovered. The bartender lifted up to yank them down over his hips, baring his ass to Erwin's view. Unable to help himself, Erwin cupped and squeezed the firm, pale cheeks. He spread them while Levi maneuvered himself to pull his legs free of the confinement and kick the pants away. He'd obviously prepared himself as stated.

"God, I'm so horny," announced Levi once he got situated in Erwin's lap again, once more straddling him backwards. "Got the condom on yet?"

"I was distracted by your ass and you still have the condom."

"Oh. Here." Levi handed over the magnum, and he lifted up again to give Erwin more room to roll the latex onto his protruding dick. While he did that, Levi opened the second condom and put it on himself.

"Lube," rasped Erwin, remembering the final packet. As soon as Levi gave it to him he broke it open, and he squirted it directly onto his sheathed length for extra glide and spread it evenly. "I'm ready for you."

Levi eased down with the blond's guidance, taking him in to the tip and pausing to catch his breath. Little by little, he took him all the way inside and he spread his legs over the arms of the chair, almost doing the splits.

"Ahhh...hah!"

Levi's cry cooled Erwin's lust enough to allow for common sense. "Easy," he soothed, embracing the tense young man from behind. He spoke into his ear, urged him to lean back against him. "I'm inside you now. Take a moment, love."

Levi shuddered, turning his head for a wet kiss. Their tongues stroked and thrust, their breath quickening. Erwin took a gamble and started to move, still holding his lover supportively so that Levi's full weight wasn't pushing him down. His body squeezed Erwin delightfully, his warm insides quivering around him. When the cadence and tone of Levi's moans changed, Erwin knew it was safe to do more. He reached down with one hand to stroke Levi, keeping his other arm around him to guide him up and down.

The recliner started to turn with their movements, rocking in time as Erwin thrust and Levi pumped. The black-haired man's motion was limited due to the lewd, sensual position he was in. Erwin made up for that. Levi's damp hair pressed against the side of Erwin's face, his breathy cries getting louder by the minute. Erwin's were deeper and rougher, but no less passionate. He felt Levi tightening in his hand, and Erwin stroked faster over the condom. A few more sharp cries and Levi filled the rubber, going taut against Erwin. The blond lasted for another moment and then he spent himself as well.

Winded and satisfied, Erwin stroked Levi's abdomen and kissed his shoulder. It took him a moment to realized that they'd turned all the way around to face the kitchen entrance in their activities.

"Here, let me help you," he offered when Levi dropped one leg back down off the arm of the chair, followed by the other. Erwin cupped his hips to help the smaller man get up, and he groaned a little as he slid back out of his body. "You're very limber."

Levi did stagger slightly as he got up. He sighed with obvious relief, even as he rubbed his bottom. "And you're pretty in control," he complimented back. He turned around, realized he wasn't facing where he was supposed to be. "Damn, we swiveled it all the way around?"

"Looks like it." Erwin smiled up at him, and he stretched. "This is the best morning."

"I'm inclined to agree." Levi glanced down at himself, and he grimaced a bit. "I'm going to clean this up before the condom slips off and I get anything on the floor."

* * *

Afterwards they got dressed...or rather, Levi changed into the underwear he'd brought and put his jeans back on. He had to toss his shirt in the dryer, and he slipped into his windbreaker to cover up his top half in the meantime. They watched a couple of sitcoms together and talked about Levi's options for a future in architecture. Erwin said he knew some contractors that he could talk to whenever Levi finished his schooling. He seemed to take a real interest in it, expressing a desire to see Levi succeed.

Erwin took Levi out to lunch after the younger man's shirt was dry again. They ate at a bistro a few blocks away from Erwin's apartment, and he again brought up Levi's financial situation.

"I'm not suggesting I pay all of your bills and rent," he told him, "but I would like to help out with the electricity. If you're going without air conditioning—"

"Only at night, and only when it's cool enough for me to shut it off," interrupted Levi. "I'm not into frying. Just trying to cut back so I don't have to ask anyone for help."

"But you aren't asking. I'm offering."

Levi sighed. He nudged Erwin's foot under the table in a subtle gesture of affection. "Hey, I appreciate that you want to help. I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but I don't want to get into the habit of running to a sugar daddy for help every time I'm stretched for cash. Bills are something I should be able to take care of myself."

Erwin put some mustard on his sandwich. "All right, then. That's the last time I'll mention it, but if you ever do get into serious money trouble, I hope you'll consider accepting my help."

Levi nodded. Everyone said that to him. His mother, Farlan and Isabel and now Erwin. At least Erwin wasn't demanding that he come to him when he needed money. "I just don't want to get back into bad habits."

"I can respect that," agreed the blond graciously. "How is your wrap?"

Levi nodded. "It's good. Thanks for lunch."

Erwin smiled. "Thanks for...the entire morning."

Levi smirked, and he had another bite of his Caesar wrap. He was going to be feeling that encounter tomorrow when he returned to work, but it was worth it.

* * *

By Tuesday, Erwin got a call from the investigator. Krueger had done some digging and found nothing on the two people Erwin had named for him, but he did have some news to give him. It wasn't exactly heartening news. They'd found the car that rammed into his...in the bay. A fisherman saw the rear end of it sticking up out of the water during low tide. They retrieved the car from the water and had it being looked into. The license plate had been removed. Whoever had driven it went through some great pains to ditch it.

Seeing as there was nothing more to do right now, Erwin concentrated on his work. He got the call that his car was repaired, so he caught a ride from Hange to pick it up after work. Deciding that he wasn't ready to go straight home, Erwin nearly stopped by the Cheshire Grin for a kava. Remembering the last time he'd gone there in his own car, he decided against it and went for a beer at one of his old haunts.

The place had changed since the last time he'd been in there. The sports bar used to be an ideal place to go after work to have a drink with coworkers, shoot some pool and play virtual golf. It seemed the college age crowd was taking over, so there was more rowdiness, more noise and more people. Erwin didn't mind being around younger people; hell, his boyfriend was in that age bracket. He brushed it off, ordered his favorite import and waited for a pool table to open up so he could practice his trick shots. He busied himself with the touch screen game system at the bar while he waited.

As he was playing one of the memory games, he saw a familiar person to the right of him out the corner of his eye. He turned his head to confirm it and sure enough, there was his last ex boyfriend. Sean was speaking with the young woman that had been his roommate. His dark brown hair had grown to his shoulders since Erwin saw him last. He was wearing a purple t-shirt and faded blue jeans. He looked as cute as ever until he turned and Erwin saw the bruises mottling his face. It looked like his nose had been broken recently, too. In addition, Erwin noticed that he had a brace on his right knee and one on his left wrist, as well.

Sean's blue-gray eyes met Erwin's, and there was a spark of recognition in them. He said something to his roommate and he started for the door with a limp. Erwin got off of his barstool, forgetting about the game he was playing.

"Sean?"

The younger man paused and turned to look back at Erwin. "Hey," he greeted reluctantly.

Erwin approached him, looking him up and down with concern he couldn't really banish. "What happened to you?"

Sean looked down at himself. "Ah, I got into a fight."

Erwin raised a brow. "You?"

"I didn't say I won it."

"That much is fairly obvious," said Erwin dryly. "So what happened?"

Sean shrugged. "A couple of guys ganged up on me outside a gay bar. I tried to fight back, but they got me pinned and beat the hell out of me."

Erwin's jaw tightened. He might not be Sean's lover any longer, but he still had some protective feelings for him. "Did you recognize them and did you file a police report?"

"I've never seen them before in my life," answered the younger man. "I didn't bother filing a police report. It was too dark to make out details of their faces and I couldn't have identified them in a line-up even if they caught them."

Erwin sighed. "There weren't any witnesses?"

"Not that I saw. If there were, they hung back and wouldn't get involved."

The older man shook his head. Violence against gays was unfortunately a common occurrence, at least in this city. That didn't mean Sean's assailants weren't gay themselves, though. He might have done something obnoxious to rile them up and they could have followed him out of the bar.

"Have you at least been to a doctor?"

"I've got a friend that's a nurse," explained Sean. "He patched me up well enough."

Erwin frowned at him. "You should still go to a clinic and get x-rays. You may have fractured something."

The younger man shook his head. "I can't afford it right now. I'll go if I don't feel like I'm healing up well enough."

"That isn't a good idea," Erwin warned. "I can cover the medical bills if you—"

"Erwin, you don't owe me anything. We're not together anymore."

It wasn't in Erwin's nature to walk away when someone he cared about was in need, even if that someone had hurt him and was more or less out of his life. Still, he'd learned from Levi that not everything could be solved with money. If Sean wanted to try and take care of himself, it would be a step in the right direction for him.

"I understand. Just do yourself a favor and don't let it go for long. If you _do_ have a fracture and it doesn't get treated properly, it will never heal up right."

"I'll see what I can do." Sean scanned him with his eyes. "You look good. How are things going?"

Erwin hesitated briefly before answering him. Why he felt guilty, he couldn't say. "Things are going well for me, thanks. I'm...with someone now."

"I know."

When Erwin gave him a puzzled look, the younger man revised his answer. "I mean I heard. A couple of my friends saw you out with some hot guy with black hair. Another one saw you with the same guy at a tea bar, so I guess he must be your new twink."

"That could only be Levi," mused Erwin. He didn't think Sean had his friends spying on him; Erwin just happened to visit places people of their age group commonly hung out. "Yes, that's my new tw...boyfriend."

It didn't feel right to call Levi a twinkie. Aside from treating when they went out on dates and giving him money for a cab once, Erwin hadn't gifted Levi with anything more expensive than a coffee mug, and Levi wouldn't accept any money to help him with bills.

Sean lowered his gaze, but not before Erwin saw a glimpse of jealousy in his eyes. "He's a lucky guy."

"Thank you." Erwin didn't know what else to say.

"Well, I'd better be going," Sean said hastily. "I've got some friends I'm meeting up with at my place. See you around, Erwin."

Erwin watched him retreat, and he decided that from now on, he would avoid going out to places he knew Sean sometimes went to. "Yes, I'll see you around."

Sean made his exit, and Erwin wondered if he'd ever really known the younger man at all. He saw Sean pause outside the door, facing Erwin's car parked at the curb across the street. Sean went stock-still for a moment as if in pain, and then he walked out of sight.

Erwin went back to his beer and his game.

* * *

Levi was just cleaning up for the end of his shift when he got a text message from none other than Jackson Drummond. He opened it up and stared, and a chill went through him.

_"I know you followed me on Thursday."_

Levi wasn't the kind of person to scare easily, but the week before had been stressful and his nerves were already stretched taut. The text wasn't overtly threatening, but it had an ominous feel to it, like a text someone would get in a horror movie just before some crazy bastard chopped down their door and dismembered them.

Levi's expression didn't reveal his alarm. Anyone looking at him at that moment might have thought he was checking his email or the weather. His countenance remained blankly bored as Levi scanned the text again and tried to decide what to do. If he didn't answer it, that would imply guilt—at least in Jackson's eyes. If he immediately asked him what the hell he was talking about, that might also imply guilt.

He decided to play it cool and give it a few minutes. He finished wiping down behind the bar, checked the volume levels of the tea he'd prepared for the next shift and then told Rick he was about to clock out. He went into the back room to find Kylie already there, signing out at the computer. Levi pulled out his phone again, and he decided to go ahead and reply to Jackson while he waited his turn.

_"Did your finger slip or what? Wrong contact."_

A couple of seconds passed, and then: _"It was no mistext, Levi. I saw you at the bar."_

Levi cursed under his breath. He'd been afraid of that. While he and Farlan had been hunkered down in the car it was fine, but he'd taken a chance at the bars and gotten out to have a closer look. He could only assume Jackson had spotted him at some point then, despite his efforts to stay out of sight.

"You okay Levi?" Kylie asked, looking up at him from her seat at the computer. "Did someone send you a dick picture again?"

Realizing his mask must have slipped, Levi relaxed his expression back into a more neutral countenance. "Fine. These damned dating sites just won't stop spamming me. Gets annoying."

"Ah, I get those too. Well, I'm out. See you tomorrow."

"'Night," he said to her. Levi waited until she left the room before sending another text back to Jackson.

_"What bar? I didn't see you when I was out Thursday night."_

He didn't realize he was holding his breath as he waited.

_"Jollies. The strip club."_

Levi sighed. _"So what?"_ he texted back. _"I can go wherever the hell I want. If you happened to be there too bad. Didn't see you and don't care."_

 _"Didn't think you were the type,"_ came the older man's response.

Levi's mouth tightened a little. _"Didn't think you were either. Anyway, my friend wanted to check it out. We didn't even go in. Place was filthy and seedy, so we left. End of story, stop flattering yourself."_

For a minute, Levi thought Jackson wasn't going to answer him. Then he saw the little cursor blinking, and another text came back.

_"LOL this is the most we've texted since we first met. Just realized that."_

Levi frowned. Yes, it probably was the most they'd exchanged text messages since the beginning, when everything was fresh. He thought it was an odd thing to bring up though, given how the conversation began.

 _"Yeah,"_ he typed, _"too bad it started with a stupid accusation."_

 _"Just thought it was too strange a coincidence,"_ excused Jackson. _"I want to talk. In person. Can we meet up?"_

Levi eyeballed the phone warily. _"Why? What's there to talk about?"_

_"Just some things I want to say. You know I'm not good talking through text or over the phone."_

Levi closed his eyes and grimaced. That was the one thing he could still relate to with Jackson. He used to be better at correspondence; not great, but decent. Once he and Jackson got serious, Levi got less communicative with friends and family except in person. He couldn't help but feel that was because Jackson influenced him.

 _"Meet outside my place,"_ he messaged at last. _"I can talk for a little while before I go to bed."_

 _"On my way,"_ replied Jackson.

Levi took a deep breath. He didn't want to see Jackson again or talk to him, but he couldn't avoid the man forever. It was time to bury the hatchet and move on, though...at least until Erwin's detective found some dirt on him that proved Jackson was responsible for wrecking Erwin's car. If that turned out to be the case, Levi would bury the hatchet, all right. Right in Jackson's back.

* * *

-To be continued


	7. Chapter 7

Levi was about a half a block away from the tea bar when an expensive black sports car slowed down on the street he was walking down. He didn't look directly at it, figuring it was slowing down to turn at the cross section up ahead. He covertly gripped the keys attached to the belt loop of his jeans when the driver slowed the vehicle to a crawl and put the passenger side window down.

 _~Probably just wanting to ask for directions,~_ Levi thought, but he was prepared to kick some ass if it turned out to be someone intent on making trouble.

"Levi," called a familiar male voice.

He stopped and looked directly at the car, seeing Jackson leaning over from the driver's side. He relaxed a bit, and he stepped off the sidewalk to approach the curb. Leaning over, he peered into the car.

"Hey. Guess you're heading to my place?"

The older man nodded. "Heading to meet up with you. Why don't you get in and I'll drive you the rest of the way?"

Levi almost declined. They weren't far from his duplex, but he remembered the last time his ex tried to get him into his car. He didn't want to give the impression that he was intimidated by him, though. He had a spike on his key chain for self-defense if Jackson got creepy with him, and he knew this neighborhood like the back of his hand if something did happen and he had to bail.

"All right."

Levi opened the passenger side, waited for the automatic seatbelt to slide down, and then got in. He didn't look at his ex as he closed the door and the seatbelt slid back into place over him.

"I thought you'd beat me there," said Jackson conversationally.

"I clocked out a little late."

Levi tried to at least appear relaxed as they rode to his residency. He paid attention to their route, prepared to say something the moment Jackson tried to take a back street or deviate from the usual path. Maybe he was being paranoid and too suspicious, but he couldn't help but feel that Jackson had let things go too easily when Erwin clocked him that day in the parking lot. That was part of the reason he was so willing to believe Jackson could have arranged to have Erwin's car rammed into.

He felt a little better about the situation when they pulled up to the brick driveway on his side of the duplex. Levi got out of the car, waited for his companion and then went to the foot of the stairs. He waved a hand in the air when the motion detector didn't go off at his approach. The porch light and its sister at the foot of the stairs clicked on and bathed the area in a warm glow.

_~Damned thing's aimed too high. It never sees me coming because I'm so short.~_

Although, Levi could understand the reasoning behind it. If they aimed the motion detector too low, it could get set off by strays coming by or people taking a short-cut through the alley. Tall people like his ex and Erwin would easily set off the motion detectors if they approached the foot of Levi's stairs, and again once they made it up to the porch...unless they crouched low or crawled.

Fortunately, Levi didn't have to wave an arm in the air again when he reached the top because Jackson triggered the detector switch coming up behind him. Levi didn't bother unlocking the door to flip the porch light on and ensure it stayed on; he didn't expect this conversation to take long. Levi checked to make sure the earlier showers hadn't left any damp spots on the patio furniture, and he had a seat on it.

"I'd invite you in, but..."

"That's fine," assured Jackson. He sat down next to Levi on the loveseat, and he crossed one leg over the other as he leaned back and rested his arms over the back of the seat. "I understand you've been seeing someone. That blond man that I had the altercation with on the day before we broke up."

Levi took a slow breath, and he nodded. "Yeah. So?"

"It didn't seem to take you very long."

"I'm sure it didn't take you very long either," reasoned Levi. "Let's face it, we grew apart."

"Did we?" mused Jackson. "I thought things were going rather well. For a time, I was wondering if you broke up because you wanted to be with that guy. That doesn't seem like you, though."

"It's not," agreed Levi, feeling a pinch of guilt. No, it wasn't like him to eye other prospects when he was committed to someone. That was no lie. Erwin Smith had been the first to make Levi break that rule, because the man had such a powerful effect on him. "I'd been thinking of ending things for a while. What cinched it was the way you acted in the parking lot that day."

"Well, I regret doing that," confessed Jackson. "My jealous nature got the better of me, and I hated the thought of other men lusting over you in that outfit."

"If they're gonna lust, they're gonna lust," Levi pointed out. "Doesn't matter if I'm naked or wearing layers. That can't be prevented. Using someone's clothes as an excuse is just a bullshit cop-out and blame-shifting."

"Maybe so, but some might consider provocative attire to be a silent invitation." Jackson shrugged. "You can't prevent that, either."

"So you're suggesting you were protecting me by trying to force me to go home and change?" Levi smirked humorlessly. "Tch. I'm not your doll that you can dress up however you please. It's partly my fault you got so entitled with me, though. I let you call the shots too much when we were together. I gave in a lot and that had a hand in you getting the idea you were the boss in everything we did. It went too far, though."

"Do you know what I think, Levi?"

The younger man shrugged. "I'm no mind reader. Spill it."

"I think," Jackson smoothly put an arm around Levi's shoulders. "I think that you secretly enjoy having a partner that takes charge. You have to put up a token of resistance, of course, but it gets you off to have a strong, decisive lover in your life. I think it scares you that you get off on it, and that's what ultimately led to the demise of us."

Levi pulled away, trying to shrug off the other man's contact. Jackson wasn't wholly wrong there, but his attitude about it was toxic. "Is that what you think? You've got some delusions of grandeur to grow out of, Jackson. You've only got it half right."

"Then why don't you explain the other half to me?"

"I thought we went over all of this on the day I broke up with you," said Levi in exasperation. "You never had time for me. Probably fucked your side twinks more than you fucked me in those last six months. That was one thing I never did get; your jealousy of other men. You had a couple of other boy toys besides me and I put up with it, but you had the balls to try and tell me how to dress and how to act around people. You crossed a line and you ignored me when I warned you were pushing it. You do realize how hypocritical it was of you, right? You can't fuck other people and then have the gall to get jealous if another guy so much as looks at my ass."

The anger was coming back again; not because Levi expected Jackson to see the error of his ways or because he hoped he would change. Levi gave up on that possibility months ago. This anger he felt now wasn't born of the same frustration he'd felt in the past. This time, he was mad at Jackson _and_ himself. Levi still felt some guilt for having sex with Erwin the night before he broke up with his boyfriend, and now he realized how ridiculous it was.

He hadn't cheated on Jackson, not if their relationship was as open as the man claimed it to be. Levi wasn't even sure how many other people Jackson fucked while they were dating, so why had he been beating himself up over a single encounter with one other man? He hadn't wanted his ex to find out about that, but what right did Jackson have to get butt-hurt over it if he'd told him?

"By the way," Levi said, his lids drooping to shadow his eyes, "Strong and decisive doesn't automatically translate into oppressive. That guy I'm with now, Erwin? I fucked him the night before I broke up with you. The same night he punched your lights out. He's strong and decisive. You don't even come close."

Jackson withdrew a little, staring at him.

"That's right," Levi went on. "We did it all night long. It was a revelation. Even on your best days, you never did me the way he does. That was when I knew for sure you and I were finished. I knew I could never go back to being your kept pigeon, waiting around for you to realize I'm not just some ornament for you to show off. That's why I went for him when I felt like I was ready to date again. He gave me more in one night than you gave in a year. Reminded me of what it's like to feel wanted, valued and..."

Levi trailed off, nearly finishing that sentence with "loved". He shrugged. "Well, you get the idea."

"You're just saying that to be spiteful," accused Jackson, voice dropping to a menacing level, "to get me back for not giving you enough attention."

Levi shook his head, and he smirked. "Nah. I'm telling the flat-out truth. Erwin Smith is the best thing I ever did in my life. He treats me good, too."

"I treated you well," insisted Jackson. "All of the gifts I showered on you, all of the money I gave you—"

"It's not about money or gifts, you idiot," Levi snapped, glaring at him. "Maybe you're just so used to buying everything you want that you can't help it, but trust and affection aren't for sale. It's _earned_ , and you stopped trying a long time ago. Don't act so surprised that I finally picked up my toys and left."

Levi thought of the first and only material gift he'd received from Erwin so far, and a ghost of a smile pulled at his lips. "Know what he gave me the last time we were together? A mug. Just a coffee mug with a shit pun written on it. Couldn't have been much more than five bucks, but that stupid mug is worth more to me than all the fancy watches, expensive clothes or designer shoes I got from you. He put real thought into it. Said he wanted me to have it because he thought of me right away when he saw it."

"You can't seriously be telling me a coffee cup really impressed you that much," accused Jackson, his voice raising a bit with anger. "You wanted for nothing when you were mine. I pampered you, gave you everything you needed!"

"Not everything," Levi reminded, his tone opposed to Jackson's in its calmness. "How many times do I have to say it? Money's worth squat to me beyond paying bills and going out with it. Erwin gets that. You never did. Probably never will, either. Erwin's better than you, period. He's got all your confidence and charm, but he's not conceited. He's sexy and sophisticated, but he's also kind of a dork with a weird sense of humor. In short, he's more genuine. He's real. He's got a personality behind those good looks and fancy clothes, and he's not afraid to show it."

Feeling ruthless, Levi twisted the knife a little deeper. "He fucks better, too. His cock is so big, fills me up so good and deep it makes me scream. He knows how to use it, too. He—"

"Shut up!"

Levi was almost startled by the menacing rage he saw in the older man's eyes. He'd never seen Jackson look so furious. He flinched involuntarily when the older man cupped his jaw, grasping it firmly and bringing his face close to Levi's. Jackson was breathing heavily, and there was something wild and dangerous in his stare, almost crazed.

"I can overlook you fucking him that night," rasped Jackson. "I can even take some blame for it. Smith is just a rebound for you though. You know it, Levi. You chose a man my age with the same tastes and career to supplement me. I saw you at that strip club, outside in the alley with that blond friend of yours. Saw those men approach you. I know what you were really doing there. You came looking for me and thought you'd get some quick satisfaction in the shadows while you waited for me to come out, didn't you?"

"You're out of your mind," grunted Levi, struggling to pull away as Jackson snaked his other arm around him to pull him closer. The clout of the man's hold was unexpected. Levi had always been confident that he could handle anyone that messed with him, but it was like Jackson had gained superhuman strength from somewhere. Levi had poked the bear, deliberately and ruthlessly driven the point home without considering that it might cause his ex to snap like this.

"You're just a little fuck boy after all, aren't you?" murmured Jackson. "If I'd known that, I would have given you my cock more often. You're like a cat in heat. I see that now. You've got to get it all the time or you offer you'll offer your ass to anyone just to satisfy the cravings."

"Sick bastard," Levi choked, his jaw creaking from the force of Jackson's vice-like grip on it.

He started to hook an arm around Jackson's with the intent of forcing it to bend and breaking his hold, but the bigger man threw his weight to the side, and they both went tumbling out of the loveseat to the deck of the porch. Levi ended up on his stomach, pinned down by the other man's greater weight and body mass. The breath got knocked out of him and his brain refused to process that this was actually happening. Jackson had never gotten physically violent with him before. The closest he'd ever come was grabbing his arm in the parking lot that day to try and drag him to the car.

"My mistake was not fucking you enough," Jackson's rough voice said into Levi's ear. The older man started fumbling with Levi's pants, trying to get them undone. "I can fix that right now. I'll give you what you want. Then you'll see...then you'll come back..."

"Get the fuck off me!"

Levi clenched his teeth, fighting back panic. He'd been enjoying the quiet since his previous neighbors moved out of the other side of the duplex building he lived in, but now he wished they were still there. The houses were spaced far apart on this street. There was a whole lot space between his and the nearest neighbors because the buildings that had been on them were amongst those on the street that the city condemned and tore down for new homes to be built. Levi's building was a historical landmark, so the most they'd do with it would be to repair it...a fact that now worked against his favor.

He was alone with an obsessed creep that had finally lost his marbles.

* * *

Erwin lay in his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He needed to get some rest for tomorrow for the company picnic. He was going to be in charge of grilling the tri-trip, and while a day socializing outdoors was a far cry better than doing office work, he knew the heat was going to drain him. He kept thinking about Levi, though. Kept picturing how the lithe, fit little man had tempted him and then sat on him like a throne, letting Erwin take charge of how deep and hard he fucked him.

The blond groaned and dropped a forearm over his eyes. He'd spent all of Saturday night and most of Sunday with his boyfriend. It wouldn't kill him to wait until tomorrow to see him again. Erwin had never felt this way before, never been so eager to spend time with his previous lovers. Levi was like a drug to him. When they were apart for more than a day, Erwin almost felt like he was missing a limb, or some other vital part of himself.

"I'm moving too fast," he muttered.

While he knew Levi's main complaint against his ex had been that Jackson never made enough time for him, Erwin worried that perhaps he was making _too much_ time. Levi hadn't sent him a text message to confirm that the picnic was still on. Maybe he was starting to feel a little crowded. Or maybe he just trusted him enough now that he didn't feel the need to remind Erwin when they had date plans anymore. That could explain it just as easily.

He didn't know why he felt so anxious, though. He felt like he needed to see or at least hear from his lover. Erwin didn't know why, but something was nagging at him to send the younger man a text, at the very least. He rolled over to peer at his alarm clock and check the time. Levi should be off work by now, probably at home if he hadn't gone out with friends or coworkers after his shift. Confirming the picnic date tomorrow was the perfect excuse to text him.

Erwin took up his phone, and he looked up Levi's stored contact information. He sent him a text letting him know the picnic was still on, and he asked him to message him if he was still up for going. He waited for a response, and as he waited, Erwin checked the weather for tomorrow again. He also checked his email and browsed the internet, trying not to be impatient.

When ten minutes passed into twenty without a response from Levi, Erwin frowned. Maybe his lover had just gone to bed early. Levi generally stayed up late and woke up late, due to his work schedule. It was entirely possible that he'd decided to call it an early night because of the picnic outing they had planned.

Erwin tried to blow it off. There had to be a reason for it. Usually Levi was prompt at responding to his texts if he wasn't having a busy shift at the tea bar. Unless he'd decided to stay late at work, he was probably just asleep already.

The minutes ticked by, and Erwin finally swore softly. Something was nagging at him. Over-protective or not, he felt like he had to assure himself that Levi was all right. He threw the covers off and got out of bed to dress hastily. He knew he was being ridiculous and over-protective. Levi might not take too kindly to him showing up at his door at this time of night just to check in on him. He might think Erwin was trying to police his personal life or getting too clingy.

It was a chance the blond was prepared to take. His gut feeling was telling him that something was wrong, and it was better to be paranoid and look like a fool than ignore his instincts and find out he'd been right. It was like that nagging feeling people got when they thought they might have left the stove on or a door unlocked, but it was much worse.

Hopefully, Levi would find it more flattering than offensive when Erwin showed up at his door with the excuse that he was worried because he hadn't heard anything back from him.

* * *

For the first time, Levi felt a lack of confidence in his ability to fight off a bigger opponent. It felt like it was happening to someone else, someone that had no fight training and no instinct to fall back on. He started to yell when he felt his pants get yanked down over his ass. A big hand clamped tight over Levi's mouth, muffling his cry. It was covering both his mouth and his nose, and Levi's panic grew when he realized it was going to smother him if he couldn't dislodge it.

"Mmmph! Mmmnn!"

"Be still," ordered Jackson roughly, grunting with effort as he worked on holding Levi down, gagging his protests and getting his pants down far enough to suit his purpose.

Levi tasted Jackson's sweaty palm against his tongue, and he bit down by sheer instinct. It successfully made the bigger male loosen his hold on him, and Levi twisted with all his might, rolling over onto his back. He shoved at his swearing assailant, trying to get a knee into position to jam it into the other man's stomach and kick him off.

Jackson's blow came hard and fast, striking Levi in the temple and stunning him. Another strike soon followed up, hitting Levi in the jaw. Ears ringing, vision blurring, the hapless bartender fought to remain conscious. He was rolled over onto his stomach again, and an arm wrapped around Levi's stomach, lifting his lower half up so that his ass was up in the air. Jackson yanked Levi's pants down around his knees, then his underwear.

Levi distantly heard the material rip, and as he tried to get his upper body up from the deck, Jackson's hand came down on the back of his neck. His cheek pressed against the wood, and his eyes went wide and staring. His neck popped from the force of Jackson's brutal hold on it. His pulse roared in his ears, and still he could hear the buckle of Jackson's belt release...the slide of his belt through it. There was a rustle and a "ffft" sound of a zipper being drawn down, and then Jackson's other hand was grabbing Levi's right hip.

Levi's eyes popped open wide when he felt Jackson's arousal press between his ass cheeks. Everything stopped at once. Time stood still. Even the cricket hopping past Levi's face froze in mid-air, suspended like a motion-capture photo snap. Staring at that cricket, bewildered and sick at heart, Levi began to see something different. It began in his mind's eye, but the cricket became himself. He was...flying. Wielding two flashing, long blades, each with odd hilts that appeared to have some sort of triggers on them, along with what appeared to be brake handles like one would see on a bicycle. Suspended on wires, he was closing in on a gigantic, blurred figure.

He could take it down. It was ten times bigger than he was, but Levi could kill it...and he wasn't alone. There were other figures following in his wake, small in comparison to the monster Levi was aiming for, but not quite as small as he was. They were on horseback, and the rising sun slanted down on the one in the lead, bathing him in golden light. Erwin. It was Erwin. He had his right arm raised, he held a sword like Levi's in it and he was yelling something to their companions. When Levi heard in his mind the words that Erwin's deep voice bellowed, he understood without understanding at all.

_"Offer up your hearts! Strike a blow for humanity!"_

Levi closed his eyes. A tear trickled from the corner of the left one, rolling down his cheek. Echoing in his mind, that voice of the past connected solidly with the present. That challenging battle cry drove away his fear, his helplessness and his doubt. If he could take down a monster like that thing in this vision he was having, then he could take down the monster that was presently trying to violate him.

Levi opened his eyes again, and the panic in them was gone. He was calm, focused, and he knew exactly what he had to do.

He didn't question it. He only acted. He pitched flat-forward on the deck, dropping his bottom and stretching out full-length before Jackson could succeed in his goal. Surprised, the older man overbalanced and sprawled on top of Levi. His weight had no direction or purpose, because he hadn't been expecting Levi's sudden jackknife collapse. His chin struck the back of Levi's right shoulder. Levi reached back, hooked his right arm around Jackson's neck. He turned onto his side with his attacker locked in a choke hold, and he punched him in the face with his free hand.

He did it once, twice and then a third time before letting go and shoving away from Jackson. While the older man coughed and hunched over, covering his bloodied nose with one hand, Levi stood up and pulled his pants up.

"I'm not going to bother stating the obvious," said Levi in a cold, dispassionate voice. "Take it like a man, you pathetic waste of oxygen."

Levi then demonstrated to Jackson just how hard he could kick. His foot connected solidly with the older man's ribs, and then again with his stomach. Jackson choked and folded again. Levi didn't relent. With his face expressionless and his eyes glinting like cold steel, Levi hammered the point home again and again. Dark crimson drops splattered his porch deck as his blows caused both internal and external bleeding.

"You got my porch dirty," stated Levi, eyes flashing.

He bent over to grab a handful of Jackson's hair, hoisting him up to his knees. Levi stared down at his ex, taking note of how misshapen his features were now. It didn't move him a bit. He forced the man's head down and he rubbed Jackson's face in his own blood like he was correcting a dog that had peed inside the house.

"See what you did? I just fucking cleaned it this morning. Mop it up, Jackson."

Levi started treating the man's head like it was a sponge, scrubbing Jackson's hair against the deck and incidentally only smearing more of the blood. Jackson growled, gathered energy from some remaining reservoir of strength, and grabbed at Levi's wrist. He said something that was so distorted from the swelling in and around his mouth it was doubtful that anyone could have made it out.

"Get out of here," Levi said in disgust, pushing him away with a foot. He only wished he was wearing his boots instead of sneakers. "Don't ever come near me, Erwin or my tea bar again. In fact, you'd better move further across town, because I'll do this again the next time I see you. I'll do it as many times as necessary to make sure my point has stuck with you, got it?"

"Not...over," gasped Jackson, getting shakily to his feet. He glared at Levi, one eye swelling shut. "Think you can...do this to me? Whore."

"Pot, meet kettle," Levi observed. He stood by the top of his steps with his knuckles bruised and bloody, and his arms dangling loosely at his sides. He might have appeared relaxed, save that his hands were still clenched into fists and the fire in his gaze hadn't faded. He nodded at the staircase. "Time's wasting, Jackson. Carry your ass before I decide to get the police involved."

Jackson bowed his head, breathing heavily. Blood dripped from his face to the deck, and there was a faint whistling sound when he breathed through his nose, suggesting it was broken. He raised his eyes again, and the madness was back in them. Levi tensed, and Jackson charged.

Levi didn't raise another hand against him. He simply sidestepped the other male's lumbering charge, and Jackson rushed past him. Levi's eyes widened when his ex stumbled and fell, practically doing cartwheels down the stairs to the bottom. Levi stepped to the edge and peered over it, his moment of clarity fading with the reality of what had happened.

Jackson lay in a twisted heap on the ground at the foot of the stairs, unmoving.

"Shit," breathed Levi, "I've killed the bastard."

* * *

Erwin kept arguing with himself even as he turned down Levi's street. "He's going to think I'm crazed. I'm going to scare him away if I don't pull it together and play it cooler."

But he had to stop by and assure himself Levi was okay. When he'd tried calling him as a last ditch effort before coming over, Erwin got Levi's voice mail. That cinched it for him, because even if he was asleep, Levi would normally have woken up, seen his ID and answered the phone. Something truly felt wrong, and Erwin had always trusted his instincts.

As he approached Levi's duplex, he got confirmation that he wasn't just being paranoid and obsessive. Erwin saw the flashing red lights of an ambulance, along with the blue and red flashes from police vehicles. His heart started to race, his stomach did a flip and his mouth went dry. There were three police cars parked on the street in front of Levi's place and one emergency vehicle pulled into the driveway.

Erwin pulled up to the curb behind one of the police cars, and he realized he still had his seatbelt on when his efforts to get out of the car were hindered. Cursing, he released the belt and got out. He jogged up to the duplex, noticing absently that there were bystanders at the end of the street looking on curiously. Erwin stopped and stared when he saw the paramedics loading an occupied gurney into the back of the ambulance. The bruised and bloody face of the man strapped to it wasn't Levi's, thank God. Erwin couldn't recognize him through the swelling. Maybe he was a local that got into an accident passing through the alley behind the duplex, and Levi saw it happen and called for help.

"Sir, you need to stay back," advised a female officer when Erwin started for the stairs leading up to his boyfriend's side of the building.

"It's okay," called a blessed, familiar voice from the covered porch at the top of the stairs. "He's my boyfriend. Let him through."

Erwin wasted no time climbing up the steps. He paused and moved aside for an officer that was coming down, and then he made it up to the top. Levi was sitting on the padded iron loveseat by the coffee table, staring at the citronella candle he'd lit. A quick inspection of him had Erwin's concern on the rise again. Paler than usual, Levi's eyes were shadowed, and he was holding an ice pack to the left side of his face over his jaw. Dried blood stained his lips and chin, and he had a dazed look about him. Levi nodded at the officer that was standing over him, writing something down in a report. The officer went inside the apartment to speak with someone, and the static sound of police radios going off filled the air.

Erwin approached his lover, head slightly tilted in a questioning manner and worry reflected in his blue eyes. Levi looked up at him, and some of the flatness left his gaze. His expression softened with what might have been relief upon the sight of the older man, and he watched Erwin as the blond sat down beside him.

"I'm sure you're wondering what happened here," murmured Levi. His words were a little distorted, and Erwin could see that the side of his jaw was swelling a bit.

"Yes." Erwin reached out to rub the smaller man's shoulder. "Are you okay? I came to check on you when I couldn't reach you by phone or text."

"I was...in a situation."

Before Levi could explain, the officer that had been speaking with him moments ago came back out to the deck to talk to him some more. "Okay Mr. Ackerman, let's review this before I finalize the report. You've stated that Mr. Drummond sent you a text requesting to meet up here after work to talk. You agreed, and he gave you a ride home. Is this correct?"

Levi nodded, glancing at Erwin sidelong. "Yes."

"Then he joined you on this porch, and he got increasingly agitated as the conversation went on until he finally started getting physically violent with you."

"Yeah," agreed Levi.

Erwin looked around more closely, and he could see drops of blood scattered all over the deck of the porch, now that it was called to his attention. He drew a slow breath, and he forced himself to stay calm and hear the rest of it before reacting.

"Did Mr. Drummond seem upset about anything prior to the confrontation?" questioned the officer.

Levi shook his head, wincing a little. He adjusted the icepack on his face. "No. He seemed okay until I told him I wasn't interested in trying to make things work between us. He started getting pushy and coming on to me, and then he flipped out when I told him I was happy with my new relationship and wanted nothing to do with him. It's like he turned into a different person."

Erwin felt Levi shiver beside him, and he promptly took off his jacket to drape it over the smaller man to warm him. So, that bruised and beaten man they'd been loading into the ambulance was Levi's ex. "Jackson attacked you?"

"Sir, please don't speak until I've finished clarifying this," admonished the officer. He addressed Levi again. "Do you have any reason to believe the suspect may have been on any mind altering substances or drunk, Mr. Ackerman?"

"He wasn't drunk, but he might have taken something before meeting up with me." Levi shrugged. "I've got no way of knowing. Like I said; he seemed normal at first."

"All right. We'll have him tested all the same. Did you call for help at any time while this was going on, sir?"

"Didn't get much of a chance to," explained Levi. "There aren't any neighbors close enough to have heard me anyway, and the people that used to live next door in this building moved out a week ago. It all happened pretty fast, too. Jackson had his hand over my mouth at first, and then he hit me a couple of times and I think I might have blacked out for a minute."

Erwin's jaw clenched, his eyes blazing.

"You struggled," the cop went on, "and you were finally able to get him off of you and defend yourself. The perpetrator lunged at you and then fell down the stairs when he missed."

"That's right." Levi tugged Erwin's jacket more closely around him, and he stared at the flooring of the porch deck. "Once I got him down, I stopped kicking him and told him to leave. That was when he charged me and took a spill down the stairs."

"Why didn't you get on the phone with emergency operators as soon as you had the suspect subdued, Mr. Ackerman?"

Levi raised his eyes to look up at the policeman. "I wasn't going to take my eyes off the bastard or drop my guard for a second. After what he did, I couldn't take the chance. Since he tried to come at me again, I'm pretty sure I made the right choice."

"I understand." The officer wrote something down. "We'll put together a rape kit and—"

"He didn't get that far," interrupted Levi, and he gave Erwin's knee a warning squeeze when the blond sputtered. "I told you, I stopped him before he carried it out."

"All the same," insisted the cop, "it's a requirement. You said you think you blacked out for a moment. Penetration could have occurred during that time, so we'll need you to go to the hospital and get an examination for the records. Any and all evidence we can get to prosecute this guy is necessary, sir."

"I'll drive him," Erwin said. His voice was level and calm, but inwardly he felt like he was about to snap. He wanted to run down those stairs, yank Jackson out of that gurney and finish him off for good.

"Erwin, I—"

"Levi, you need to be looked at," insisted the blond sternly. "This isn't up for debate. It's an order."

Erwin hadn't meant it seriously, and he expected further argument from his lover. Instead, Levi stared at him with parted lips for a moment, and then lowered his gaze with a nod of acquiescence.

"All right, if it's an order."

"Is there anything further you'd like to add to the report, sir?" asked the officer.

Levi shook his head.

"And you definitely want to press charges?"

"Yes, he does," said Erwin.

"I was talking to Mr. Ackerman, sir," reminded the officer sternly.

"Yeah, I want to press charges," confirmed Levi. "Bastard's probably going to get off anyway and try to press counter-charges against me and sue me, but I'm still going through with it."

"He was on your property," Erwin pointed out. "You didn't come after him, he came after you."

"But Mr. Ackerman invited him onto his property," said the cop. "The court is going to take note of that. In any case, we've got enough evidence here to support Mr. Ackerman's claims, and we did get a statement from one of the neighbors that said they heard him yelling at the suspect to get off of him. Completing the rape kit and having it on record will help as well. Just make sure you do that tonight. Don't put it off."

Erwin swallowed, sick to his stomach at the thought of Levi being violated. He put an arm around his lover as another cop exited the apartment and joined the first out on the porch.

"No evidence of a break in," stated the female officer. "It looks like it all happened out here as the victim stated."

"All right. We'll file this report and have Mr. Drummond placed under arrest as soon as he's stabilized enough," said the interviewing officer. "Lock up tight, Mr. Ackerman. I'm sorry you had to go through this."

"I will. Thanks."

They watched the two officers go down the stairs to join the others, and they waited together in silence as the law enforcement and emergency vehicles left the property. Levi leaned up against Erwin, quietly expressing his gratitude and weariness. Erwin put an arm around him, and he nuzzled his hair.

"I wish I could do more for you," whispered the blond. "I should have come as soon as I didn't get a text response."

"You couldn't have known," came the low answer. "At least he didn't get any further."

Erwin sighed, closing his eyes and trying to banish the upsetting imagery his mind was conjuring. "How can I help?"

Levi pulled away to look at him, and his gray eyes were both soft and enigmatic on the blond. "You already have."

Erwin didn't see how, but the words were spoken with so much conviction that he took it to heart. "Let's get you to a doctor to get this over with."

* * *

The examination was uncomfortable and a bit invasive, but Levi put up with it for the sake of helping his case against Jackson. Erwin waited outside the curtain, his presence comforting and reassuring. When they finished examining Levi they released him to go home, and Erwin drove him back to his place. The blond escorted Levi inside, ushering him gently when the smaller man paused to look at the blood on his porch with a frown. It would have to wait to be cleaned up tomorrow.

They went inside and locked the door behind them. Levi went into the kitchen to make some chamomile tea for the both of them, figuring it might settle the nerves. They sipped their beverages together on the couch, sitting close to one another.

"I'm going to cancel going to the picnic tomorrow and call in sick," Erwin announced after a few moments. "I want you to take off work as well, if you've got a shift. I'd like to take care of you, and you should rest up for a day or so."

Levi hesitated, almost insisting that they stick with the original plan and still go to the picnic. He thought it would be good to do something normal to help keep his mind off what happened. Taking into account the ugly bruises on his jaw and the side of his face, Levi decided it was better not to go to the picnic. He didn't want to show up as Erwin's date looking like a battered turd. That might raise some questions and reflect badly on Erwin. Besides, it was nice to have someone he trusted wanting to take care of him.

"All right. I probably shouldn't be swimming in the ocean in this condition anyway." The doctor said he should keep his activity light for a few days until the swelling in his temple went down. Jackson must have hit him harder than Levi thought.

"Good." Erwin pulled out his cell, and he sent a text message to someone. "Done. I let my boss know I'm taking a sick day. He doesn't need to know that it isn't for me."

Levi smiled the slightest bit. He thought about that hallucination he'd experienced while Jackson was assaulting him. Maybe it had just been his fevered imagination responding to his self-preservation instinct, but imaginary or not, that vision Levi had experienced in those terrifying moments had saved his ass...literally. If he hadn't so vividly heard Erwin's voice shouting inspiration in his mind, if he hadn't seen that vision of himself preparing to cut down a giant with Erwin leading an army at his back, he might not have had that burst of strength and clarity. He might have been raped or even killed.

Erwin was watching him attentively. Levi met his gaze, noticing his stare. "What?"

"That look on your face," answered the blond softly. "There's something about it. Is there anything you want to talk about, Levi?"

Levi stared at him uncertainly. He didn't think he could describe to Erwin what he'd experienced, even if he tried. It was so deeply personal, and though Erwin was directly involved in it, Levi didn't feel ready to share it with him just yet. He was still trying to figure out what it meant, why it had such a strong effect on him and how it changed something inside of him.

"I feel strong," he said at last.

Erwin nodded. "You fought off an attacker that had both a mental and emotional hold on you for some time. You stopped him from violating you further. It must have been empowering."

"It isn't just that," Levi tried to explain. His brows hedged, and he looked down at the mug he was holding. It was the one Erwin had gifted to him. "I'm sure people always feel empowered when they stand up to a bully. This isn't the same thing, though. It's like something changed in me. When Jackson tried to...when he attacked me, I had this epiphany. It's hard to explain. I just knew what to do all the sudden. I've had moments like that before, but never so intense, and they usually don't linger for long afterwards."

Erwin frowned a little, clearly trying to understand but falling a bit short. "So you wouldn't describe it as an ordinary surge of adrenaline? In the heat of the moment, people have been known to perform feats of unusual strength."

Levi shook his head. "It wasn't an adrenaline burst. It was like something broke free. Like being blind and all the sudden gaining my sight back." He sighed, had a sip of his drink and looked at Erwin searchingly. "You think I'm just having some kind of aftershock reaction, don't you?"

"No," assured the blond gently. "You aren't the kind of person to let your imagination run wild or delude yourself, Levi. If you say this experience triggered something deep inside you that was hidden before, then I believe you. As long as you're still my Levi."

The younger man favored his lover with another of his small, rare smiles reserved strictly for Erwin. "Thank you."

Erwin would never know just how much he'd personally influenced this change, unless Levi some day found the courage to tell him. For now, he was content just to have his support and understanding.

* * *

Now that it had been called to his attention, Erwin _did_ feel a change in Levi. It was quiet and subtle, like clouds gathering in the calm before the storm. Erwin carefully cleaned off Levi's face with a warm, wet washcloth after they had their tea, and he was surprised by how readily the smaller man cooperated with him. Levi seemed content to be pampered a bit, but Erwin didn't allow that to fool him into thinking he was complacent. The calm in his gray eyes was a bit unnerving, to tell the truth. Erwin thought most people would have been more anxious and vulnerable after having an experience like this, but not Levi. He was cool as a cucumber.

"Stay with me tonight," came the quiet request after Erwin finished cleaning off the remaining traces of blood.

Erwin paused in the act of getting up to put the washcloth in the dirty clothes hamper. He looked down at his lover, and he nodded solemnly. "I was planning to. I didn't think to bring anything to change into, though. I honestly came over with the intention of simply checking in on you."

Levi shrugged. "So sleep nude. Like I'll mind." His smirk was faintly lopsided due to the swelling in his jaw.

Erwin smiled at him. "Only if you'll do the same." He quickly revised his words, reminding himself that flirting with Levi might not be appropriate right now. "That is, if you feel comfortable doing it."

"With you, I do."

Erwin relaxed, touched that Levi would feel so safe in his presence. He put away the soiled washcloth and he took their empty tea cups to rinse them out in the sink. When he came back into the living room, he found it empty. A glance through the double doors leading into the small bedroom revealed that Levi was already in there, shedding his clothes. Erwin watched silently, giving his companion space to finish undressing. He saw Levi grimace down at his underwear once the barista stripped down to them, and he noticed a substantial rip in the side seam of them.

"Well, these are ruined," he heard Levi mutter. "Not that I'd want to keep them after...oh well."

Erwin swallowed, wanting to say something comforting to his lover. He couldn't find the words. Levi shimmied out of his underwear, and he gathered them up along with his other clothes. He strode naked through the bedroom doors, carrying the bundle in his arms.

"You may need to have those clothes dry cleaned for the stains," suggested Erwin. "I could take them for you and—"

"I don't want them anymore," announced Levi. He took the bundle into the kitchen, and he deposited the whole thing into the trash can.

Helpless to do anything save be there for him, Erwin waited for Levi to go back into the bedroom and lie down. He joined him, and he stood over the bed uncertainly. They could both fit on it together, but it was a bit of a squeeze. He wasn't sure Levi was ready for such close contact so soon after his near rape.

Levi turned the air conditioner unit on the economy setting, using the remote for it sitting on his storage cabinet in the corner by the head of his bed. He looked up at the taller male, and he patted the spot on the outside of the bed as he scooted back against the wall.

"What are you waiting for? Get undressed and climb aboard."

Erwin quietly complied, pulling his t-shirt off, folding it up and placing it on top of the dresser on the opposite side of the narrow room. He took his shoes off and placed them on the floor next to the piece of furniture, and he removed his pants and underwear next. He turned around to face the bed again, and he couldn't help but give Levi a sympathetic look.

"What's that stare all about?" demanded the younger male. "I'm fine, Erwin. Yeah, he shook me up, but I'm not going to freak out on you. Come lay down."

Feeling a little foolish for his own behavior, Erwin did as Levi invited. He lay down on his side next to his lover. The last time he'd been so uncertain and wary was when he lost his virginity in his teens. He noticed some bruising shaped like a hand mark on Levi's hip, and he frowned. Erwin traced the darkened pattern on the smooth, pale skin, and then he stroked his palm over it as if he could erase it by doing so.

"Does it hurt?" whispered the blond.

Levi glanced down at the big hand resting over the bruise Jackson had given him. "It's a little tender. Not bad."

Erwin pulled the sheets up over the two of them, and he put an arm around the smaller man to hold him close. "Levi, I—"

"Don't you fucking apologize," interrupted Levi. "You didn't do this, and you can't protect me from everything no matter how much you want to. Understand?"

"I know that," sighed Erwin, shrugging one broad shoulder. "I was just going to say that I don't want to accidentally crush you in our sleep. I'm used to sleeping alone on a bigger bed, so if I start to roll over onto you, just kick me."

Levi stared blankly at him for a moment, and then the corner of his mouth that wasn't damaged curved up. "Heh..." He buried his face in Erwin's armpit, and he made the sound again. His shoulders jerked, and his lips blew a raspberry as he sputtered softly.

"Are you laughing?" Erwin smiled, tickled both by the sensation of his lover's attempts to muffle himself against his flesh and his delight in finally giving Levi a giggle.

Levi composed himself, clearing his throat. "Maybe just a little. Don't worry, old man; you're not on my list of people I want to kick. I wouldn't want to mess up your pretty face."

Erwin avoided flinching as his lover gave his jaw a rough squeeze. It only lasted for a moment before Levi's touch gentled, caressing the older man's face.

"You'll need a shave in the morning," observed Levi. "You've already got stubble."

"Unfortunately, I have no razor with me," Erwin pointed out, "but if my stubble bothers you that much, I'm willing to make a run to my place tomorrow to shave."

Levi shook his head. "No need. I've got a brand new razor I haven't even opened yet. I bought it for...eh, never mind."

"You bought it for Jackson, I presume?"

Levi sighed, and he pushed Erwin onto his back, straddling him in one swift, smooth motion. "I thought it couldn't hurt to be prepared, even though he never once stayed the night at my place. I figured if he ever did for whatever reason, he'd want his own razor to use."

"That's perfectly logical." Erwin stroked the younger man's pale thighs, admiring the long, toned muscles in them. "Well, now you have a boyfriend who _will_ stay the night here, so it wasn't a waste of money on your part. How often do you have to shave, by the way? I've never noticed you waking up with a notable amount of stubble when you've stayed the night with me."

"I only have to shave every couple of days," Levi supplied. "I've never been able to grow a full beard or mustache...not that I'd want to. Guess I'm just not a hairy guy."

"I've no complaints about that," assured the blond. He almost reached for Levi's groin to play with it a little, but he restrained his impulses for Levi's sake. After what he'd been through, feeling him up wasn't a good idea. Erwin was a little surprised when Levi bent over and started kissing him. It was slow, unhurried and far too sensual. It certainly wasn't the kind of kiss Erwin would have expected from a person who had nearly been raped mere hours ago.

"Levi," he murmured between kisses, swelling helplessly between his legs, "you're getting me excited."

"Mmm." Levi nibbled his ear, gyrating slowly on top of him. "That's a bad thing?"

"I just don't think we should rush anything. I'm sure you need some time before we're intimate again."

Levi pulled back to affix him with a level, calm stare. "I'm not going to let Jackson's bullshit ruin our sex life, Erwin. He wins, if I do that." He sighed and lowered his head, letting his shiny black bangs fall over his eyes. "That being said...you're probably right. Maybe I _am_ rushing it, trying to prove something to myself."

The bartender lifted his head and looked Erwin in the eyes. "Tell me something: do you think I'm a nympho?"

"What?" Erwin didn't need to feign his surprise.

"A nymphomaniac," clarified Levi. "A sex addict. Do you think I'm too horny all the time?"

Erwin nearly laughed, but then he saw how serious Levi was, realized it wasn't just a rhetorical question. Erwin shook his head, and he ran his hands over his lover's ribcage. "No, I don't. I think you've got a perfectly normal, healthy sex drive for a man of your age. You're no worse than any of your peers in your age group. In fact, I'd say you have a better handle on your urges than most."

"Do you?" Levi seemed troubled.

"Of course," assured the blond. "Look at the way so many guys in their twenties act, and look at yourself in comparison. You aren't running around chasing tail, you don't go to pick-up joints looking for your next conquest. You're monogamous and you don't..."

Erwin trailed off, a little embarrassed over the direction his answer was going.

"Have one-night stands?" Levi finished for him with a dry smirk.

"That was different," insisted Erwin. "You and I were both caught up in something more powerful than ourselves. I know you, Levi. Your heart isn't fickle. What happened between us was fated, and I don't give a damn if it sounds hokey or dramatic. I knew you were for me from the moment I first laid eyes on you, and that night when you showed up at my apartment was the most exciting moment in my life."

"You clearly don't get out enough," joked Levi dryly. "Glad it meant so much to you, though."

Levi paused, his brows furrowing. "Damn, it really _did_ mean a lot to you, didn't it? And I tried to play it off like a fling."

"It's okay." Erwin sat up, and he embraced the smaller man, rubbing his back. "You had your reasons, and I knew that. What made you ask me such a question to begin with, Levi?"

Levi shrugged, and he looked off to the side. "Just something Jackson said when he...when he lost his shit on me."

Erwin frowned, and he cupped Levi's chin gently. "Look at me, Levi."

The younger man obeyed, and Erwin spoke with all sincerity. "Do _not_ pay any attention to anything that scum said to you. Demoralizing and shaming their victims is a hallmark of abusive people. It's how they exert control over them, how they convince them that they're lucky to have the abuser in their lives. Don't fall into that trap, Levi. Victim shaming is practically an art to these people."

Levi's gaze lowered again, and he nodded. "As long as you don't share his opinion, I guess I don't care."

"I can't imagine me sharing any opinions of his, much less qualities." Erwin kissed the tip of Levi's small, adorable nose. "That being said, I have to at least give the man compliments on his taste in boyfriends."

Levi cupped the back of Erwin's head, pressing the blond's face against his toned chest. He kissed the crown of his head, and he spoke softly into his hair.

"Well, there's that, at least."

* * *

-To be continued


	8. Chapter 8

Levi slept for a surprisingly long time. Cuddled up against his handsome blond boyfriend, he found it all too easy to fall into slumber. When he woke up, he could hardly believe it was still so early. Erwin's warmth still lingered next to him. Levi hugged the pillow his lover's head had been on, taking in his scent. He knew Erwin was still in his duplex; he could hear the man rummaging around in the kitchen.

Levi sat up and stretched, yawning. He got up and made his bed, and then he selected a pair of jogging pants and a t-shirt to dress himself in before going to investigate the sounds he was hearing. The smell of freshly brewed coffee permeated the air as he approached the kitchen, along with the semi-sweet smell of waffles. Erwin was busy topping the four waffles he'd toasted with butter, sliced strawberries and whipped cream when Levi made it into the kitchen.

"Where'd you get that stuff?" Levi asked, coming up behind his boyfriend. Erwin had already dressed, and he had a little piece of toilet paper stuck to his jaw where he'd cut himself shaving. He was dressed in his clothes from the night before.

"I made a quick run to the supermarket after I found the toaster waffles and decided to make some for breakfast," explained the blond. He turned around to face Levi, and he gave him a good morning hug. "You like waffles, don't you?"

"Yeah. Haven't had any in a while because I usually just fix a bowl of cereal. Guess I'm too damned lazy to bother." Levi hugged him back, and he looked at the appetizing fair that Erwin had prepared for them. "This is probably the first time I've ever been with a guy that likes to make me breakfast."

"Well, it's the most important meal of the day," excused Erwin with a little smile. He located the silverware drawer, and he placed a fork and a knife on each of the two plates of food he'd made. "Coffee?"

"Please." Slightly amazed, Levi took one of the plates, and he kissed Erwin's throat before taking his meal to the little dining table in the living room area. "You're gonna spoil me, blondie."

"You're mine to spoil," countered Erwin from the kitchen. He brought his plate out, and then he went back into the kitchen to pour the coffee. "Cream and sugar?"

"No thanks. I take mine black."

Erwin came back out with two steaming mugs of the beverage, and he set Levi's down next to his plate before taking the seat adjacent to him. He'd picked up the daily newspaper while he was out, and he opened it up to read it while they ate. Levi watched him covertly as he enjoyed the hot breakfast Erwin had prepared. The man looked so sophisticated and sexy to him. Levi never would have thought he'd get turned on by the sight of a lover reading the newspaper, but Erwin made even the most mundane things interesting.

"Do you want a section of the paper to read?" offered the blond between bites of waffle.

Levi shook his head, realizing he'd been staring. "No. Just enjoying the scenery."

Erwin glanced at him, and his lips curved into a subtle smile. He said nothing about Levi's comment, but it was obvious that he was pleased by it. He finished reading his section, and he flipped to the funnies page. "You don't even like to read the comics?"

Levi shrugged. "I was never much into cartoons, even as a kid."

Erwin nodded, seemingly unsurprised.

They finished their breakfast and Levi cleaned up the dishes and silverware. As he was putting his dish in the drying rack, someone knocked on his front door. Levi frowned, wondering who would be visiting him this early in the day. He went to the door quickly and peered through the peep hole.

"Oh shit," he muttered, recognizing his mother on the other side of the door. He cast a half-panicked look at his boyfriend, and he went to the table to usher Erwin to his feet. "That's my mom. You've got to stay out of sight, okay?"

Erwin gave him a puzzled look. "Levi, what in the—"

"Into the linen closet," interrupted Levi, thinking quickly. It was the only place he could stash Erwin. He nudged the taller man toward the closet set into the wall between the kitchen and the living room. He reached up to cup the back of his boyfriend's head, guiding him to duck down. "It's a little tight, but you can fit if you hunch over."

"Why am I hiding in the closet?" Erwin ducked anyway so that he could squeeze into the space beneath the shelves, and he nearly tripped over the little vacuum cleaner stashed under there. "Levi, what's this about?"

"Mom doesn't know about you yet," explained Levi in a rush. "I haven't had the chance to tell her and I don't want to try and explain why you're here. Just keep quiet while I get rid of her."

Levi shut the door, wincing inwardly in response to the confused blue eyes peering out at him. He'd make it up to Erwin later. Right now, he just had to do some damage control until he could figure out how to tell his mother that he was again dating an older man. Taking a deep breath, the bartender went to the door to open it up.

"Hey Mom. Come on in."

Kuchel smiled at him, gave him a kiss on the cheek and stepped into the house. She frowned upon noticing the bruises on his face, and she reached out to touch them gently. For all intents and purposes, she looked like an older female version of Levi. Small in stature like her son, she had long black hair, a pale complexion and the same gray eyes.

"Levi, what happened to your face?"

"I got into a fight last night. I'm okay, Mom."

Kuchel sighed. "I thought you'd outgrown being such a scrapper. What was it about this time?"

Levi hesitated. He was capable of lying when the situation called for it, but never to his mother. She always saw right through it. "Look, I'll be straight with you. Remember that guy I was dating, Jackson?"

"Yes." Kuchel said it flatly, her tone disapproving. She'd met Jackson a couple of times before, and while she had no issues with her son being gay, she hadn't been very happy to learn he was dating someone old enough to be his father. She'd given Jackson a chance for fairness sake, but her impression of him wasn't a very flattering one. "What do you mean 'was dating'? Did you finally break things off with him? Levi, did _he_ do this to you?"

Levi sighed. The last thing he wanted to do was make his mother worry about him, but it was better to just get it out into the open now than to try and make up some story.

"Yeah. I broke up with him about three months back. He came over last night trying to get me to take him back, and it ended up in an argument that got really ugly. I'm okay, though. He's in worse shape than me."

"That bastard got physical with you?" Kuchel's voice had dropped an octave, her tone becoming menacing. In some ways, she was a lot like Levi. More patient than him by far, but quite capable of being ruthless when it came to anyone messing with her boy.

"He tried," explained Levi. "I got the upper hand, though. He's in the hospital."

She raised a brow, and then she relaxed. "Good. I hope you pressed charges against him."

"I did," he assured her. "And no, I'm not even considering taking him back, before you ask. I don't cave and give it another shot when I decide to dump someone."

"Good riddance to bad rubbish, then." Kuchel opened up the big shoulder bag she carried, and she dug something out of it. "Here, sweetheart. I picked this up for you when I toured the old mill outside of town. I'm not sure if it's to your taste, but I know how much you like trying different tea flavors."

Levi took the box of hibiscus tea his mother offered him. He examined the list of ingredients, and he nodded. "Thanks. I'll give it a try. I've never had this kind before. So did you just come over to give it to me?"

"Yes. I'm afraid I can't stay long. I'm meeting the girls for brunch uptown."

Levi almost breathed a sigh of relief, but he refrained. He put the tea away with his collection in the kitchen, and he started up the hot water kettle. "Want a cup while you're here?"

"Yes please," answered Kuchel. "You know what I like."

Levi nodded, and he selected one of the vanilla chai bags for her, along with a bag of peach green tea for himself. Kuchel joined him in the kitchen while he got out two fresh mugs. She came up behind him and she rubbed his shoulders.

"I don't want to be a nosy old hen, but have you found anyone else since Jackson?"

Levi paused. If he tried to blow it off and claim he was still single, Kuchel would know he wasn't being truthful. He needed more time to figure out how to tell her about Erwin, though.

"There's a guy," he admitted softly. He opened both tea packages and placed the bags into the coffee cups he'd set out. "We haven't been seeing each other for very long. I'm playing it by ear."

"It's good to know you're being careful," she said. "I'd be worried if you jumped into anything serious right away."

Levi grimaced slightly. If she only knew how crazy he was for his new boyfriend. It wasn't a good time to tell her the details, though. "He's nice. I think you'd like him."

"How old is he?"

The kettle started to boil, and Levi poured the hot water over the waiting tea bags. Handing Kuchel's cup to her, he tried to formulate the best response to her inquiry. "He's...older."

Kuchel's expression fell. "How much older?"

Levi sighed. "Does it really matter?"

"It does to me," she said firmly. "I don't want you getting involved with another Jackson. That man was too controlling. I haven't forgotten the way you had to check in with him that night when you came over for dinner. When you can't even enjoy a meal with your own mother without reporting in to your boyfriend, something's wrong."

"He's not another Jackson," assured Levi. "The only thing they have in common is their age, all right? This guy is really laid back. We have fun together and he respects me, so don't worry about that."

"Well, what's his name?" she persisted. "When do I get to meet him?"

"His name is Erwin, and I don't know when I'll get the chance to introduce you. It's still a pretty new relationship."

Kuchel clicked her tongue in a way that was very much like Levi. "Tch. Are you worried I might embarrass you? Or are you worried I'm going to interrogate him?"

"Both," said Levi without hesitation. "Look, just give me a little time to see where things are going. I think it's too soon for a 'meet the folks' scenario right now."

His mother grimaced a little. "What if I promise to behave myself?"

"Heh. Like that'll happen." Levi sipped his tea, and he winced a bit at the soreness of his jaw. Kuchel immediately noticed, and she finally said something about his condition.

"Dear heart, I don't want to be accused of being overly nosey, but would you mind telling me how you got those bruises on your face? I'm going to assume they weren't the work of your new boyfriend."

"No, it was the old one," muttered the barista into his cup, bracing himself.

Sure enough, Kuchel's back stiffened, and her eyes narrowed. "I knew it. I _knew_ there was something fishy about that Jackson character! That swelling is fresh, though. It couldn't have happened when you broke up with him, unless you just recently did it and then immediately got with this Erwin person."

"It's all right, Mom. Jackson's in worse shape than I am. Stupid bastard fell down my stairs after I dodged his attempt to tackle me, and he's laid up in the hospital. Yes, before you ask, I _am_ pressing criminal charges of assault."

She sighed, and she gently caressed the swollen side of Levi's face. "Has he done this to you before? Is that why you broke up with him?"

Levi shook his head. "No, this was the first time he's ever gotten violent with me. I think he might have been on some kind of speed. He came over to talk and he tried to get me to take him back. When I told him it wasn't gonna happen, he flipped out."

He chose not to tell her that Jackson had also tried to rape him. Levi didn't think his mother needed to know about that. It would just make her more upset and more mistrustful of any man Levi dated.

"Well," said Kuchel after a moment, "I hope they throw the book at that son of a bitch. You should put a steak on that, dear."

"I've been using cold packs on it," he assured her. Levi gave his mother a brief hug. "Don't worry about me, Mom. I'm fine. Go enjoy your brunch with your girlfriends. I'll call you tomorrow."

Kuchel finished off her tea and she handed the cup back to Levi. "All right, but don't think you can hide this new boyfriend of yours from me forever. I mean it, son. I want to meet him soon."

"I'll keep that in mind. Drive safe."

Kuchel left, and Levi stepped out the door to watch her get into her car and drive off. Once she was gone, he went back into his apartment and he opened up the closet that he'd crammed his lover into. Erwin straightened up with a grunt and came out. He stretched, and he watched Levi with inquisitive blue eyes.

"Sorry about that," offered the bartender. "I panicked a little."

"By the sounds of it, you aren't altogether sure that you and I are going to last," observed the taller man shrewdly. "Otherwise I can't understand why you would be so reluctant for me to meet your mother."

"That isn't it," Levi quickly insisted. Erwin was in fact the only boyfriend he'd ever had that he felt this certain about, but he didn't know how to say it without sounding overly sentimental and stupid. "I don't have any doubts about you. I just...shit, how do I put this? I'm not ready to share you with anyone yet, not even my mom. Plus she's going to have a shit-ton of questions for you. She never liked Jackson and she's gonna want to make sure you're not like him. I feel like I need to prep you before you meet her face to face, you know?"

Erwin visibly relaxed, and he smiled slightly. "So this evasive maneuvers are for my benefit, and not because you're ashamed of me?"

Levi blinked at him. "Why the fuck would I be ashamed of you? Have you _seen_ yourself? You're hot as hell and if I weren't so selfish, I'd be showing you off left and right."

Erwin's smile grew bigger. "You think it's selfish of you to hide me?"

Levi shrugged. "Like I said; I want to keep you all to myself for now. Yeah, I think it's selfish. Most people talk about their lovers, especially when they're as crazy about them as I am for you. I've refrained from bragging because..."

Levi frowned, lowering his gaze.

"Because what?" pressed Erwin softly. He cupped Levi's chin, urging him to look up at him.

Levi heaved a little sigh. Somehow this man could read him in ways most others couldn't. He couldn't lie to Erwin, even if he wanted to. "Because I'm still trying to convince myself this is real. I've always had shit luck with boyfriends, and Jackson was the longest lasting relationship I've ever had. I feel like this thing you and I have is too good to be true, and if I let myself believe it's going to last I'll jinx it and you'll change your mind about being with me."

_~Plus I'm pretty damned sure that if there's such a thing as past lives, you and I knew each other in one and we were fated to hook up. That's a crazy notion though, and if I embrace that theory and let myself get too attached you'll break my fucking heart.~_

Erwin stared silently at him for several moments. He brushed his thumb over the smaller man's lower lip, and he slowly shook his head. "That isn't going to happen, Levi. Do you know that I started frequenting that tea bar simply because of you? I didn't even like kratom or kava at first. I just wanted an excuse to be near you and get to know you, to be brutally honest. The tea grew on me after a while, but I'm telling you now that I would have drank muddy water if you'd served it to me. Of one thing I am certain, and that's how enamored I am with you. I'm not going anywhere unless you chase me away with a crowbar."

Levi smirked, flushing with pleasure at the older man's passionate, sincere words. "I'm nothing special, you know. I'm so small people mistake me for a kid sometimes. I'm rude and tactless, too. I've got some bad habits like smoking, I'm broke most of the time and I'm not very sociable. I'm working on that last part, but—"

"Levi, everyone has their quirks," insisted Erwin. "You may have the occasional cigarette, but I've never seen you chain smoke and you don't blow your smoke towards others or litter the ground with your butts. You may not have a remarkable income right now, but you're working to better yourself and build a promising career. As for your size, you may not want to hear this, but I think it's adorable. You fit against me perfectly, and if you had a height and build to match your personality, you would be a giant."

"Okay..." Levi blushed deeper, a little embarrassed.

"I also admire your candor," Erwin went on, "and at least you're creative with your swearing. I'm not sure how you manage it, but you make the most profane words sound somehow elegant. I hardly even notice it when you swear, but when I do, it always makes me want to smile."

"Tch, if you say so."

"I do." Erwin nodded. "And that isn't all. You've got heart. You don't allow people to walk all over you, and you're virtually fearless. That's another admirable quality. For every negative trait you can name, I can think of at least two positive traits."

Erwin bent over to kiss Levi softly on the lips, and he murmured against them. "Not to mention the fact that you have an amazing body beneath these clothes. The first day I saw you in those little cutoff shorts and that half tank top you were wearing with them, I swear that I forgot my own name. You have got the most toned abs I've ever seen, and this ass of yours is so perfect I could cry."

Levi jumped a little when Erwin's big hands settled on said ass, giving both cheeks a possessive squeeze. Flustered, he tried to formulate a response. Erwin was kissing him again before he could get so much as a word out, and Levi's knees went weak when the older man's tongue invaded his mouth to tease and caress his own. The barista responded immediately, curling his tongue against his lover's and putting his arms around Erwin's waist.

It was always so easy with Erwin. Slow build up didn't exist with this man. Each time they kissed, Levi got immediately turned on. It was a little frightening, to be honest. As gay as he was, Levi had never experienced this kind of flash fire heat between himself and another man before. Even the hottest of his ex boyfriends couldn't turn him into a puddle of mush the way Erwin could with one damned kiss.

He felt the blond's arms encircle him, crushing his smaller frame up against Erwin's. Good thing too, because his legs were starting to buckle. Levi throbbed in his pants, and he moaned into Erwin's mouth as the blond wedged a muscular thigh between his legs, putting delightful pressure on his swelling groin. He vaguely realized Erwin was walking backwards with him, heading for the bedroom. That was fine by Levi, and that was worrisome because as Erwin had observed the night before, he probably shouldn't be so eager to have sex this soon after nearly getting violated.

Erwin broke this kiss abruptly, breathing heavily. "Maybe we should stop before I lose my head and take it too far."

Levi started unbuckling Erwin's belt. "I don't want to stop."

"But Levi, last night you were nearly—"

"Then make me forget about it," insisted the smaller man breathlessly. He cupped the substantial bulge growing in Erwin's pants, giving it a squeeze. "Fill me up with this big cock of yours, Smith. Make it all I can think about."

Erwin's breath caught, and the sapphire tint of his eyes intensified with lust. "If that's truly your wish, then I'll be glad to comply with it."

* * *

Despite his misgivings, Erwin gave his all to please his lover and distract him from his ordeal the night before. He couldn't erase what had happened, but he put all of his effort into reminding Levi that he still had a lifetime of things to look forward to. The younger man's breathy cries inspired Erwin and drove him to greater heights of passion. He stopped fucking him at one point, just when they were both on the verge of climax.

Erwin thought Levi was going to box his ears for that, but he was quick to demonstrate his intentions and Levi's complaints immediately died when the blond pushed his thighs far apart and started sucking him off. He stroked Levi's trembling, tense body as Erwin worked his mouth over the smaller man's length, sucking and licking and gently scraping his teeth against the tip. He fingered him while he orally pleasured him, massaging him inside and provoking louder cries from his lover. When Levi's back arched and Erwin got the full load of his cum down his throat, he swallowed it eagerly and then licked the twitching member clean.

Erwin mounted his companion again after that, and he tried very hard not to get too rough with him. It didn't take him long to get off; those sounds Levi made were so erotic that he thought he could reach completion just by listening to the other man moan his name. He tried not to put his full weight on Levi once he came inside of him and his muscles turned to jelly. He gave a couple more slow pumps before he softened completely, and then he withdrew and lay down on his side next to his lover, gasping for air.

"You did...good, old man," wheezed Levi, also winded from the experience. He cracked his eyes open and turned on his side to face the blond. He stroked his palm over the blond's chest, fingers toying lightly with the smatter of golden hair on it. "I think I've...said it before, but you...fuck like a beast."

Erwin didn't even try to contain his prideful smirk. "I would have to in order to keep up with you. Fortunately...you turn me on very easily."

"No Viagra for you, huh?" Levi smirked back.

"You're my Viagra." Erwin leaned in to kiss the tip of Levi's nose, and he stroked the smaller man's dark hair back from his sweating forehead. "I'm happy to have pleased you."

"No worries there," assured Levi. He collapsed again, and he winced when his sore face pressed against the pillow. Sitting up, he rubbed his jaw and temple gingerly. "I think I'd better put the cold pack on this again."

"Good idea," approved Erwin. He rolled onto his back and he threaded his fingers behind his head, enjoying the afterglow. He watched as his young lover got out of the bed, and he saw his own spunk dribbling down the back of Levi's pale thighs. It was unreasonably sexy to Erwin. Usually he would wear a condom, but Levi had insisted on going bareback this time. It was a wonder Erwin managed to go for as long as he had without the sensations being dulled by latex.

He looked down at his groin with surprise when he felt it stir. "So soon?" whispered the blond, raising his brows.

"What was that?" Levi was stretching lazily, his spine arching and a little shiver of satisfaction going through him.

Erwin looked back up at the smaller man. "They should bottle you and sell you as an alternative to Viagra. Look at what you're doing to me just by standing there nude."

Levi turned around to see what he was talking about, and one thin black brow lifted with muted surprise at the sight of Erwin's cock slowly inflating. "Huh. Looks like you broke your record, hot stuff. That's the fastest I've seen you recover after blowing your load."

"I was thinking the same thing," stated Erwin, amused. Even when they'd had that first magical night together, they'd had to wait about twenty minutes or so between orgasms for him to get hard enough to do it again.

"Don't move," ordered Levi. He gave the blond a particularly lewd stare, his gray eyes flashing beneath half-lowered eyelids. "I intend to take advantage of that as soon as I get cleaned up."

"You're supposed to be icing your face as well," reminded Erwin.

"Tch, that can wait. Watching that thing swell up in front of me just made me horny again."

Indeed, Levi's goods were visibly reacting as they spoke, quickly reaching the same state as Erwin's. Levi reached down to give his length a slow tug, sighing. "Maybe I _am_ a nympho after all."

"Even if that were the case—which I don't think it is," Erwin replied, "I certainly have no complaints. Hurry back, my Levi."

"Time me."

Erwin nearly laughed as his diminutive partner dove through the open bedroom doorways and sprinted away to wipe himself off in the bathroom.

* * *

Much later, both men lay exhausted and panting on the bed. This time Erwin had put a condom on, so Levi didn't have as much of a mess to clean up afterwards. He climbed on top of the blond and lay on him, resting the uninjured side of his face on Erwin's broad chest. The older man slowly stroked Levi's back while they recovered. His heartbeat was strong and rapid beneath Levi's ear.

"Next weekend," Erwin said once he caught his breath, "I want you and your mother to have dinner at my place with me."

Levi lifted his head, peering uncertainly at the bigger man. Erwin had a serious look on his handsome, flushed face. His return stare was level and commanding, silently lending testimony to his words.

"I don't know," whispered Levi.

"I do," retorted the blond, "and I don't intend to debate this. If you're concerned that I'll be intimidated by whatever questions she wants to ask me, don't be. I've faced criticism and doubt many times before in my career. I would very much like to address any fears your mother may have concerning our relationship and my feelings for you. I want us to last for a long time, Levi. I don't want to scare you, but I consider this a long term relationship; not just a temporary fling. If I can set your mother's mind at ease and gain her approval, it would be better for everyone. Do you agree with that?"

"Yeah," answered Levi after a second's hesitation. "I'm just not sure it's going to be as easy as you think. She's been pushing me to date people closer to my age, and I think she's got this notion that older guys I hook up with are just cradle-robbing perverts that want a trophy boy to show off."

"And I'm sure she isn't wrong about that in some cases," said Erwin. "There are men my age that specifically go after younger lovers to make themselves look good, but I would like the opportunity to prove to your mother that I'm not one of them. Please, give me the chance to make a good impression on her. If you avoid introducing us for too long, she's going to get the impression that you have something to hide. She may wonder what's wrong with me that you don't want her to find out about."

Levi heaved a sigh. Erwin had a good point, he had to admit. Levi had no doubt that his mother would come to love Erwin once she got to know him, but until that point, she wasn't going to pull any punches. Kuchel had been dumped and abandoned by her ex husband while she was pregnant with Levi. He'd never met his father, and he didn't particularly care to. Because of the man's selfishness, Kuchel had struggled hard to raise Levi and provide for them both without any help. It was really no wonder she was instinctively suspicious of men, and Levi knew that her initial disappointment in finding out he was gay had nothing to do with prejudice against homosexuals and everything to do with her mistrust of men. She simply didn't want to see Levi get hurt the way she did, and for some reason she'd been convinced that he would have been safer dating females.

"All right," he finally answered. "If it's that damned important to you, we'll do it. Just keep it in mind that you aren't going to win her over easily, all right? I wouldn't call her a misanthrope, but Mom doesn't trust men...especially men that want to sleep with her son."

"Then she doesn't trust you either?"

Levi shrugged. "Sure she does. That's different; I'm her kid. She'll trust guys well enough when there's no romance involved, but she's got issues when it comes to dating. She doesn't think men are capable of being loyal to their significant others."

"That's a pity," replied Erwin softly. "I presume she must have had some bad experiences with men in the past?"

"Awful," agreed Levi. "The final straw was my old man leaving her to raise me alone. She's never forgiven or forgotten that, and neither have I."

Erwin frowned. "I can't understand what sort of man would abandon his wife and his own child."

"That's because you're not a selfish, cowardly prick," reasoned Levi. "I wasn't even born yet when he took off. Found out Mom was pregnant and bolted right away."

"Because she was pregnant?" Erwin looked incredulous. "I would think that would have given him incentive to stick around!"

Levi shrugged again. "Nah, he didn't want kids. Mom didn't either, but when her birth control failed and she found out she was expecting, she changed her mind. He tried to make her get an abortion but she wouldn't do it, so he left her."

"Levi, I am so sorry." Erwin's gaze softened on him, and he stroked his hair. "And you grew up knowing this? How old were you when she told all of this to you?"

"About thirteen," answered the bartender. "I asked her a few times when I was younger and she always said she would tell me when I was older. I guess she felt I was mature enough by the time I turned thirteen to hear the truth."

"How did you take it?" asked the blond.

"I was pretty mad at first," confessed Levi, dropping his gaze to Erwin's chest. His lips pulled into a frown as he recalled the anger he'd felt at that moment. "I wanted to hunt him down and beat his ass. Mom had a long talk with me...said I was better than that and the bastard wasn't worth me getting arrested for assault. She said we were better off without him, and the one good thing that came out of that marriage was me. I let it go, but only because she begged me to."

"I see." Erwin rubbed the smaller man's back. "It's no wonder she has a jaded opinion of men. I'll keep that firmly in mind when I meet her and I won't take it personally if she's aloof and mistrustful of me."

Levi nodded. "Good, because she's gonna give you a hard time at first, and I don't want that scaring you off."

Erwin cupped Levi's chin, and he drew him close for a kiss. "I don't scare easily, especially when I want something as much as I want you. I'm not a fickle man like your father."

Levi said nothing to that, but inwardly he prayed Erwin was telling the truth. After all, he hadn't had much better luck with men than his mother had.

* * *

Erwin had no choice but to leave that night, because he had to go back to work in the morning and he didn't bring any appropriate clothing to change into. His thoughts remained on what Levi had told him about his sad family life. Erwin's parents were both dead. His mother passed from cancer and his father had a heart attack four years afterwards that killed him. However, Erwin had a good childhood compared to his lover's. His parents had loved each other very much, and they had always been supportive of Erwin and very proud of his accomplishments. He couldn't imagine what it must have been like for Levi to grow up without a father figure in his life, but he'd beaten the odds and matured into a good man, as far as Erwin was concerned. Perhaps Levi's fondness for profanities was a symptom of the absence of his father in his life, but as quirks went, Erwin thought there were worse ones Levi could have picked up.

The work week went by far too slowly. If he hadn't agreed to work over the weekend, Erwin would have scheduled the introductive dinner this week rather than the next one. He couldn't get out of working on Saturday and Sunday, though. There was nobody available to take his place. Hange was going out of town for the weekend to visit friends up north, and seeing as it was a holiday weekend, other coworkers that might have filled in for Erwin already had their family plans made.

He took it in stride. After all, he was virtually the only executive at the office who didn't have a family to consider. It never bothered Erwin to work on holidays or stay late at the office. The overtime pay was nice, and he didn't have anyone to go home to at the end of the day.

Now, of course, that had changed. When he'd been dating Sean, it never troubled him to have weekends or holidays monopolized by his career. For the first time in his employment history, Erwin had a problem with his work hours. Levi wasn't even living with him, but every moment he spent at his desk instead of with his lover wore on Erwin's nerves. He chewed the end of his pen until he broke it, and he got ink all over his mouth. He had to wash his face off in the bathroom, and he shook his head and laughed at himself as he did it.

"Is this love," he wondered aloud, staring at his reflection in the mirror. Granted, he and Levi were still in the beginning phase of their relationship, when everything was fresh and exciting and they couldn't keep their hands off each other. Erwin didn't remember that new relationship giddiness lingering for this long with any of his previous lovers, though.

At once, he suffered a tug of depression over the thought of going home after work to an empty apartment. How nice it would be if Levi could be there waiting for him when he walked through the door, or if he came in later after a work shift and brought Erwin a kava home. Erwin could picture himself giving the younger man a welcoming kiss and sitting down to watch the late news with him, cuddled together on the couch.

Erwin's eyes went blank as it occurred to him what he was doing. Never before had he thought of living together with a boyfriend. The closest he'd ever come was after he finished his service tour and he and his lover gave one another a drawer for when one of them stayed the night with the other. He'd always thought it was inviting trouble to cohabitate with a lover. Having separate homes gave them space from each other, and Erwin believed that helped make relationships last longer.

Now he couldn't stop thinking of how much he wanted Levi sharing his bed with him every night, taking showers with him, dining with him, doing laundry with him. The domestic mental imagery was shockingly appealing. Erwin thought of the times he'd gone over to coupled friends' houses for dinner or celebratory events, thought of the way they interacted with each other, and how well they knew one another. He'd never been envious of that before, but now he wanted that too. He didn't just want Levi in his life; he wanted him in his home.

"I can't ask him to move in with me," reasoned the blond softly. "He would never agree to it this soon. It might even scare him away."

Erwin didn't even know if Levi had ever shared a residency with any of his former boyfriends. Maybe he just wasn't the type to have that sort of living arrangement, just as Erwin was up until now. Levi seemed content in his little duplex, and it was just big enough for him. It suited him, and he'd obviously put a lot of effort into fixing the place up and making it a home for himself.

Deciding he was allowing his passion to rule him, Erwin pushed the notion aside. He shouldn't even be considering offering Levi a drawer until they passed the six month mark, let alone asking the man to move in with him. Hange was right; he was smitten and it was starting to effect Erwin's logic.

* * *

"Mom, don't let me catch you making any back-handed insults," warned Levi the next weekend as they pulled into the parking garage behind Erwin's apartment building. "I know you're used to people not catching it, but it won't get by Erwin. The man knows how to read between the lines and he's one of the most observant people I've ever met, so stifle it."

"You act like I'm going to insult his mother or something," Kuchel chuckled. "Relax, son. I'm not here to roast the man without good cause. I just want to find out what kind of person he is, and I know how love can blind people to faults."

Levi averted his gaze. "I didn't say I love him. Don't be so quick to assume."

"The way you talk about him, it sure seems like love to me," she pointed out. "Of course it could just be infatuation, but that's nearly as dangerous. Sometimes an objective point of view can save a person from a lot of grief. I did warn you about Jackson, but you never listened to me."

"Let's not go into that again," muttered Levi. "You want to park on the sixth level. We'll take the elevator up from there."

"All right."

Kuchel dutifully drove her car around and up the ramps until they reached level six. Levi spotted Erwin's luxury sedan, and he pointed it out to her. "Right there next to that black car, Mom."

"Classy," she observed, eyeing the expensive vehicle. "Is this your boyfriend's?"

"Yeah, that's Erwin's ride. Pretty nice, huh?"

His mother nodded, and she parked beside the sedan. They got out of her car, and she examined Erwin's vehicle. "They did a good job with the repairs. As bad as you described the damage, I would have expected at least a scratch of ding. This looks brand new."

"Erwin's got a good insurance policy." Levi pulled out his cell phone to dial his lover. "Hey, we're in the parking garage and we're on our way up, blondie. About half an hour? That's fine. See you in a couple of minutes."

Levi hung up the phone and replaced it in his pocket. "Erwin says dinner will be ready in about thirty minutes. He's cooking us bouillabaisse, whatever the hell that is."

"It's a seafood soup," provided Kuchel. "I haven't had bouillabaisse in a long time. This should be a treat if the man can cook halfway decent."

"He can," assured Levi. "I'm sure you won't be disappointed."

They boarded the garage elevator, and Levi pressed the button for Erwin's floor. He remembered the first time he'd ridden in this lift and how nervous he'd been. Recalling that also reminded him of how that night ended, and Levi tried to think of something else before his mother could notice him blushing. He was halfway convinced that Kuchel possessed the ability to read his mind, and it bothered him more than a little to think of her seeing the mental imagery of himself and Erwin screwing like bunnies.

"Okay, here we are," said Levi with some relief when the elevator finally reached Erwin's floor and slid open with a ding. "I'm serious, Mom. You behave."

Kuchel pinched his cheek lightly. "I'll try."

"Somehow I don't believe you."

Levi stopped before Erwin's apartment door, and he knocked on it. Within moments it opened, and Erwin stood before them dressed in a pair of black slacks, a white button-up shirt and black shoes. He wore his cooking apron over his clothes to protect from staining, and he somehow made it look stylish.

"Please come in," invited the blond man with a comely smile. "Mrs. Ackerman, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Kuchel took Erwin's offered hand to shake it, and she stared up at the man with slightly widened eyes. "Likewise, Erwin. You can just call me Kuchel. We _are_ the same age, after all."

Behind her, Levi face-palmed.

"So we are," agreed Erwin smoothly, showing no reaction to the not-so-subtle observation of his and Levi's age difference. "Whatever you're most comfortable with. Make yourself at home while I finish preparing our meal. I'll be serving it with Cabernet Sauvignon, unless you would prefer something else to drink."

"That sounds fine." Kuchel stepped in and immediately examined her surroundings.

Levi came in behind her, glaring at her back. His expression softened when Erwin closed the door behind them and favored Levi with a quick kiss of greeting. He hadn't been expecting such a display in front of his mother. Levi had the notion that Erwin would be reserved with his affections in her presence, at least until they broke the ice. Obviously the man was even bolder than Levi thought.

"Have a seat in the living room," suggested Erwin. "Levi, you know where everything is. Help yourself and your mother to something to drink while you wait. I picked up some of the green ice tea you like."

"Thanks." Levi looked to his mother. "Do you want one too, Mom? There's probably some juice and soda too."

"Thank you, dear. I'll have one of those teas."

Levi nodded, and he followed Erwin into the kitchen while Kuchel sat down on the couch in the living room. He sighed once he was out of earshot of her, and he looked up at his lover as Erwin went to the stove to stir the fragrant mixture simmering in a big metal saucepan.

"Hey, I'm sorry the first thing out of her mouth was a snide comment about your age," offered Levi. "I told her not to get an attitude with you."

"I don't think she was being snide." Erwin scooped up a little of the soup, blew on it and held the spoon out. "Taste this. Tell me what you think."

"Maybe I'm just so used to her giving my boyfriends a hard time I hear her differently than you do," muttered Levi. He sipped the broth offered to him on the wooden spoon, and he nodded. "Tastes really good."

Erwin smiled, and he opened up the oven to check on the bread he was baking. "Your mother seemed a little surprised when I answered the door. What was she expecting, I wonder?"

Levi hadn't seen Kuchel's expression, so he couldn't confirm or deny Erwin's observation. "I don't know. Maybe she thought you'd have a receding hairline or a beer gut...though she ought to know by now I've got better taste than that."

Erwin chuckled. "Well, whatever she was anticipating, I don't think I fulfilled her expectation."

Levi opened the fridge and located the bottles of tea on the bottom shelf. He noticed the cake box on the shelf above it, and he guessed Erwin had purchased something for dessert. "What kind of face did she make? I told her you were good looking, but she doesn't always trust my judgment."

"She seemed a bit startled, that's all. Maybe she expected me to be shorter."

"Heh. I go for the tall ones and she knows it, so that can't be it." Levi gave Erwin's bottom a quick pat. "I'd better get back in there before she gets a hair up her ass to start snooping around."

"Give her a tour," suggested Erwin. "I cleaned today and I have nothing to hide. I don't mind if she has a look around."

Maybe Erwin didn't mind, but Levi did. Knowing his mother, she'd make some kind of embarrassing comment when she saw the master bedroom. She was worldly enough to realize that Levi was having sex with the man, and he'd inherited his candor from her.

"Maybe later. I'll just turn the television on to keep her occupied for now."

Carrying the beverages, Levi went back into the living room to rejoin his mother. He handed her drink to her and sat down, and he raised a brow when Kuchel leaned in and mouthed: "Oh my god!" to him.

"What?" asked Levi warily. Sure, Erwin's place was nice but her wide-eyed look and reaction was a bit over the top.

Kuchel glanced at the kitchen archway, and she spoke in a hushed voice. "He is _gorgeous_."

Levi blinked at her. "I thought you didn't like men anymore."

She huffed. "I may have trust issues, but I can appreciate a fox when I see one, and that is one fine man in that kitchen."

Levi relaxed, and he nearly smiled. "Yeah, he is. I told you he was hot."

"I'll never doubt you again," she vowed. "At least when it comes to people's looks."

"You didn't think Jackson was good looking?" She certainly hadn't reacted this way when Levi introduced his ex to her.

"On the surface," explained Kuchel. "I saw something in his eyes from the beginning that bothered me, though. It spoiled his looks, and the more you complained about the way he treated you, the less attractive he got to me. Remember son: beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

"And ugly is to the bone," quoted Levi. It was a saying he'd heard his mother use many times in his life. "So what did you see in Erwin's eyes? You seem a lot more impressed with him than you were with the last one."

"Honestly I was too stunned to try and read anything in his eyes," confessed Kuchel. "All I noticed was how beautiful a shade of blue they were. I think my brain froze when he looked at me."

Suddenly, Kuchel's earlier comment about Erwin's age took on a different meaning for Levi. She'd specifically made a comparison between her age and Erwin, and she had never before told one of Levi's boyfriends to call her by her first name. His mouth parted, and he narrowed his eyes at her.

"You weren't taking a dig at his age at all, were you? You were flirting with him!"

Kuchel tried to look innocent. "Don't be ridiculous. I would never flirt with one of your boyfriends, Levi!"

He kept staring at her, not buying it.

"Ah, fine," amended Kuchel with a shrug. "Maybe I was flirting just a little. It was an impulse. You can't put a man that looks like that in front of a single woman still in her prime and expect her not to react, can you?"

"I can if it's my own mother and the man in front of her is gay and happens to be my boyfriend," insisted Levi. "That's sick, Mom."

"You're being dramatic," she accused. "I didn't pinch his ass or flash my cleavage at him. Hmm, I'll bet you could bounce quarters off those buns, now that I think of it."

"Mom, I'm begging you to stop," whispered Levi. "He might hear you and I don't want to think of you thinking of him that way."

"You wanted my approval," reminded Kuchel, obviously fighting a grin and failing.

"Okay, so he gets the Kuchel Ackerman stamp of approval for looks," muttered Levi. "I get it. Please go back to being the suspicious interrogating mom again instead of the creepy pervert mom that wants to bounce coins off my man's ass."

Kuchel laughed, and she booped her son's nose with the tip of a finger. "You're turning pink, kiddo. It's so cute when you blush like that."

Erwin came into the room, untying his apron. "The soup needs to sit for a few minutes, and then it will be ready to serve." Noticing Kuchel's mirth, he smiled. "Did I miss something funny?"

Levi covered his mother's mouth with his hand before she could even try to answer. "Not really. Mom's just got a weird sense of humor and thinks she's a comedian."

Kuchel pried Levi's hand away from her mouth. "Don't listen to him, Erwin. Levi's embarrassed because I made an observation, and it always tickles me when he blushes."

"Oh?" Erwin looked mildly curious, and his sapphire gaze flicked between mother and son. "Is it the sort of observation involving me as the subject?"

Kuchel nodded, and Levi shook his head. "It's nothing," he insisted.

"I'm getting mixed signals from you both," stated Erwin lightly. He met Kuchel's eyes. "Is he telling the truth?"

"No, he's not," she answered. She scooted away from her son as Levi tried to muffle her again. "Levi's just embarrassed because I told him I thought it was really sweet the way you kissed him hello at the door when we came in. He's always so conservative with his affections, you know."

Levi swore he could hear his pulse beating in his ears, he'd gotten so worked up thinking his mother was going to just come out with it and tell Erwin she'd been admiring his ass. He forced his expression into a neutral mask as his lover glanced at him, and he shrugged.

"I'm not used to kissing in front of my mother," explained Levi.

"I didn't mean to embarrass you," offered the blond man. "Maybe I should have asked you first. I hope I haven't made either of you uncomfortable with my thoughtlessness."

"Not at all," Kuchel informed. "In fact, I'm happy that you're fond enough of Levi to kiss him in front of me without a second thought. I didn't get the impression that you did it just for show, either. You just acted on your feelings, and that's a good thing in my book. Kiss, hold hands, snuggle...it's all fine as long as it stays PG rated in front of me."

"Mom," groaned Levi, turning pink again.

Erwin's deep laughter assured Levi that he wasn't offended by Kuchel's words. "You don't need to worry about that, Kuchel. I've too much respect for Levi to take things that far in front of others, especially his mother."

"That's good to know."

Levi watched as Erwin neatly folded up his apron, and he couldn't tear his eyes off the older male's hands. He started thinking about the things those hands could do to him. Selfishly perhaps, he briefly wished his mother weren't there with him. If not for her, he and Erwin could have had a quickie before dinner and a longer encounter after dessert. He hadn't seen Erwin since the week before last. Both their work schedules had gotten in the way of any date planning before tonight.

"Your face looks good, Levi."

The bartender gave his lover a blank look, having gotten so distracted by his inappropriate thoughts that he didn't catch the meaning behind the comment. "Uh, thanks. So does yours."

"I think he's talking about the bruising, dear," Kuchel pointed out.

Levi touched the side of his face, which had recovered from the injuries Jackson had caused. "Oh. Yeah, I guess it healed up pretty fast."

Erwin nodded. "I haven't seen you since the incident happened. What's the news on Jackson? Is he still hospitalized?"

"They called me yesterday and told me they're keeping him in the hospital until he can walk on crutches, and then they'll release him into police custody and a trial date will get set up. That's the extent of what I know."

"Would you like me to go with you when they summon you to testify?" offered Erwin.

Levi shrugged. "You might have to anyway. I'm pretty sure they'll want your testimony too, along with the people that gave a statement to the cops at the scene."

"Then I'll pick you up when the time comes for the court date." Erwin's expression hardened slightly. "I want to see that man get sentenced for what he did."

Levi glanced sidelong at his mother, who was watching Erwin attentively. Maybe it was just wishful thinking, but he thought he detected approval in her expression. The subject of Jackson's trial reminded Levi that they still had the issue with Erwin's car up in the air.

"Hey, what about the investigation with what happened to your car? Have they found anything else yet?"

"Unfortunately, Krueger hasn't gotten back to me on that," answered the blond. "I'm beginning to think it's a lost cause."

"I'm sure they'll find something eventually," encouraged Kuchel. "Whoever did that had to have slipped up at least a little bit and left some kind of evidence. Just be patient."

"If there's one thing I have an abundance of, it's patience."

Erwin smiled a bit ruefully, glancing meaningfully at Levi. The smaller man immediately caught on to the hidden meaning behind that statement. Erwin had waited for him as promised, giving Levi the time he'd needed to work out his feelings and decide what he wanted to do. Levi was grateful for that, though he didn't think he expressed it often enough to the man.

"Well, I'd say our dinner is ready to be served," announced Erwin. He gestured at the archway. "Let's sit down in the dining room to eat, shall we?"

* * *

Erwin was fairly confident that the evening turned out to be a hit. He'd made the bouillabaisse with mussels, calamari, monkfish and blue crab, along with leeks, onions, tomatoes and potatoes. On the side he served grilled slices of garlic bread with a little cayenne pepper. Kuchel seemed to love it, though Levi poked around his bowl curiously for a few minutes before digging in.

As expected, Kuchel had a lot of questions for Erwin. First she asked about his career, then where he grew up and went to school. He obligingly answered her inquiries, and she apologized when she asked about his parents and got informed they were both deceased. Erwin assured her it was okay, and he showed some interest in her lifestyle by asking what she did for a living and what sort of things she liked to do. He found out that she did floral arrangements from her home and she had a handful of drivers under her employment to deliver them on business days. She also had two assistants that came in during the week to help make the arrangements so that she could have days off other than Sundays.

Kuchel seemed most impressed to learn that Erwin served in the military during his college years. Apparently she held respect for service men and women, and Erwin was glad that the subject came up and bumped him up a little on her scale of likeability. She asked if he thought he would ever be put back on active duty to serve in war again, and he told her it was possible, but not highly likely. He also assured that he was more than willing to fight for their nation again, if it came down to that.

"Well, if you go, I'm going," Levi stated, surprising both of them.

"You mean to war?" asked Erwin.

Levi nodded. "Yeah."

Erwin's lips thinned at the prospect. He knew in his bones that Levi could potentially be the deadliest of soldiers despite his small frame, but he hated the thought of his "twink" going into battle. He blamed it on his protective nature. He didn't say anything to contradict Levi's statement, guessing it would only piss Levi off if he did so. Inwardly though, he worried that if they ever went to war again and Levi shipped off with him, Erwin would be too distracted with trying to keep him safe to do his own job properly.

"Well, thank goodness we're in a time of peace," remarked the blond carefully. "Also, you should keep in mind that there isn't a guarantee you and I would be assigned to the same squad or location. We could end up on opposite sides of occupied territory."

Levi appeared briefly crestfallen. "Oh. Didn't think of that. But just imagine it: you and me kicking ass in the field together. Feels right, doesn't it?"

Erwin had to admit that it did. He wasn't sure why, but he honestly felt that with Levi by his side, he could accomplish just about anything...even if he was worried sick for his safety. "It would only seem fair to warn them we were coming," he said at last, smiling softly.

"Let's hope that scenario can be avoided," Kuchel said. "Levi, I know you've always had an interest in the military and I respect that, but you're doing so well with your studies. Please keep your progress with school in mind before you rush off to join the military, especially if you would only be doing it to be with your boyfriend. No offense, Erwin."

"None taken. I would rather see him get his degree and start a promising career than go off to war, myself."

Erwin's phone buzzed in his pocket, and he pulled it out to check it. He was expecting it to be a message from Hange, Mike or a coworker. Instead, he saw Detective Krueger's name flashing on the screen.

"Excuse me," he said to his guests, "I need to take this call."

Erwin got up from the table and went into the living room as he answered the phone. "Good evening, Detective. You seem to have a knack for contacting me during dinnertime."

"Blame it on my work hours," countered Krueger. "Not everyone has nine to five jobs, Mr. Smith."

"Of course," responded Erwin. "Do you have news about my case?"

"Yes, in fact. We've got a suspect in custody. He was brought in earlier in the week, actually, but more evidence had to be gathered before we could pin anything on him and make it stick. It's a guy you used to date. Name's Sean Ripley."

Erwin froze, eyes widening slightly. "Sean? There must be some mistake."

"No, and I made sure of that," said Krueger. "We got a warrant to search his home and I found the title papers to that lemon that crashed into your car. He bought it two days before the incident at the tea bar. Finally got a confession out of him when I showed the paperwork to him, also. Have you had contact with him at all since breaking up with him, Mr. Smith?"

Erwin thought about the night at the sports bar. "Yes. I crossed paths with him at a local bar after work a few nights after the car crash. He looked beaten up, but I never imagined...he told me he got into a fight with a group of anti-gay thugs. Are you absolutely sure about this, Krueger? Breaking up always tends to leave some hard feelings, but Sean and I were more or less amicable about it. He never gave me reason to believe he would be so petty, especially so late after our relationship ended. We've been broken up for a year."

"Consider this, Mr. Smith; if he'd done this right after your breakup, he would have set himself up as the likely culprit. The kid isn't a genius, but he's brighter than some. I think he bided his time and waited for the right moment. Might have even bought that car for the sole purpose of wrecking yours with it...or worse."

Erwin frowned. "Are you insinuating that he might have been planning to run me over? I don't believe it. I might buy into the possibility that he would do property damage to get back at me if he really felt that slighted, but you'll never convince me Sean would stoop to murder."

"Believe what you will, sir. Maybe you can get more out of him than we did. He gave me the impression he's suffering some guilt over it. If you come visit him with questions, he might just crack and tell you more."

Erwin sighed. "What facility is he being held in? I need the address and visitation hours, please."

* * *

When Erwin returned to the dining room, he had a brooding look on his face. Levi could sense the man's tension, and he paused in the act of selecting a slice of the cheesecake Erwin had served up for dessert.

"What's the matter, big guy?"

Erwin took a seat, and he propped his elbows on the table and laced his fingers together. Resting his chin on his knuckles, he met Levi's eyes. "That was the investigator that was leading my case. They found a suspect."

Levi tilted his head. "Was it Jackson?"

Erwin shook his head. "No. Jackson is cleared in this respect. It was _my_ ex supposedly driving the car that rammed into mine that day. Sean Ripley."

"Never met him." Levi seemed troubled. "How long were you two broken up before this happened? Wasn't he the most recent ex?"

"Yes, he was the last person I was with before you," explained Erwin. "They found proof that he was the title owner of that car. I'm going to have to go in during my lunch hour on Monday to speak with him. Detective Krueger seems to think he'll part with more information if I confront him directly."

Kuchel grimaced. "It must have been a bad breakup."

"Actually, it wasn't." Erwin's handsome face bore a look of confusion on it. "He wanted to see other people, and I wasn't willing to do that. While I can't say he wasn't upset over my decision that we were better off without each other, he didn't lend the impression of being vindictive. We parted ways without any serious arguments, and I want to speak with him myself to be sure he didn't make a bogus confession because he was intimidated by their interrogations. It's been known to happen before."

"But if they found evidence that it was his car," Kuchel pointed out, "obviously he was more upset about it than you think."

"Unless someone stole his car and he never reported it," suggested Erwin.

"Dear man, I think you're reaching," observed Kuchel. "I can see that you don't want to believe this person would do such a thing, but you have to take human nature into consideration. My son adamantly insisted that Jackson would never lay an aggressive hand on him when I noticed how overbearing he was getting, and look at what the bastard did to him!"

Kuchel leaned forward a bit, affixing Erwin with a stare very much like Levi's. "It's admirable to want to see the good in people, Erwin, but sometimes we have to be ready to accept the bad in them, too. I'm not saying there couldn't be another explanation behind all this, but if that boy you were dating before Levi wasn't satisfied with just you, then maybe he wasn't satisfied with simply letting things go, either. Some people are very adept at hiding who they really are from others."

Erwin smirked humorlessly. "The detective said much the same to me. For all my observation skills, I apparently fail to see some things coming. I'll keep it in mind when I visit him, though I still have high hopes that this is all just a misunderstanding."

Kuchel's gaze sharpened on the blond. "Do you still have feelings for this person, Erwin?"

Levi watched his lover closely, interested to hear the answer to that himself.

"No," said Erwin without hesitation. "Not romantic feelings, anyway. Those are reserved for your son now. I do however still harbor some fondness for Sean, and I wouldn't want to see him hurt or in trouble. Call it a lingering sense of protectiveness. I suppose that's one of my character flaws; thinking it's my duty to defend the whole of humanity."

"That isn't a character flaw," stated Levi, one corner of his mouth curving up slightly. "It's an asset."

_~And it suits you more than you can even guess.~_

Erwin unclasped his hands and took his elbows off the table. He seemed to gain a touch more pigment in his cheeks, and he helped himself to a slice of the cheesecake. "Well, in any case I shouldn't put myself in vulnerable situations. Let's hope this cheesecake is as good as it looks."

* * *

-To be continued


	9. Chapter 9

Levi went home with his mother after socializing for a bit once dinner was finished. Erwin would have liked to ask him to stay the night, but he had a lot on his mind and he didn't think he would be as attentive to Levi as he thought the younger man deserved. He thanked Kuchel for coming, told her to drive safely and he gave Levi a lingering goodnight kiss. He gave them half the remaining cheesecake to take with them, and he cleaned up once they were gone.

Sunday was uneventful. Erwin went fishing with his old friend Nile, and that took his mind off his problems for a time. He had a restless night, and Hange remarked that he looked tired when he showed up for work on Monday. Erwin shared with her the news he'd gotten from the detective, and she expressed sympathy for him. Her advice was almost the same as Kuchel's, though she was more willing to believe it could be a misunderstanding.

Lunchtime came around, and Erwin picked up a sandwich to eat on his way to the prison. He checked his keys and phone at the desk when he signed in to visit with Sean, and he was shown to a visitation room with glass separating the prisoner side from the visitor side and phones to communicate. He waited for perhaps ten minutes before his ex was escorted by a guard to the booth Erwin was at. Sean's bruises had faded, but he still walked with a slight limp. He wore a knee brace over the orange jumpsuit pants they'd assigned to him.

When Sean saw Erwin sitting on the other side of the glass, he paled. The guard gave him a nudge and said something to him when he didn't immediately move, and he hobbled over to the stool to sit down opposite his former lover. He slowly reached for the phone, and to Erwin, he already looked like he was ready to cry. It made pity surge in Erwin's breast, and he was even more determined to confirm that this was in fact not Sean's fault.

"Tell me it's a mistake," he urged, speaking into the mouth peace as soon as the younger man sat down. "Tell me someone stole that car from you, Sean. Tell me you lent it to someone, that it was a jealous current lover who had it in for me. Anything. Just tell me it wasn't really you."

Sean wavered, his eyes filling with tears. Erwin expected him to announce that it _was_ a mistake and that he'd been set up or some other excuse. Instead, the young man blurted out the opposite.

"It was me."

Erwin sighed. "Then tell me why. Did someone compel you to do it? Did they threaten you? I can't believe you would do something like this without good reason. Not this long after we broke up."

"I was jealous," admitted Sean, visibly trying to compose himself. "I found out you were dating that guy from the tea bar, and it just got worse and worse. Then I drove by and saw you kiss him, so I pulled off into a parking lot around the corner and used the spray paint I had in my trunk to cover up my license plate number. I don't know exactly what I was thinking, Erwin. It's kind of a blur. All I know is I saw red. I wasn't expecting to feel that way. I barely remember doing it, in fact. After that I just panicked and wedged a brick on the accelerator by the bay to try and get rid of the car. I guess that didn't work out so well."

Erwin felt tired. He rubbed his eyes, and he steadied himself before speaking again. "You were the one who wanted to see other people. Now you're telling me that the sight of me kissing another man drove you into a jealous fit? That makes no sense."

"I know," agreed Sean, combing his fingers through his hair. "I know I had no right to feel that way. It snuck up on me. I couldn't stand seeing you with someone else. I'm so sorry, Erwin. Now I'm in such deep shit!"

"Damned right, you are." Erwin's brows pulled lower with frustration, and a muscle jumped in his jaw. "What I'm getting from this is that you wanted to fuck other people, but you didn't want me to take the same liberties and expected me to stay true only to you. That's a bit contradictory, wouldn't you say?"

Erwin frowned, going quiet. His situation with Sean oddly paralleled Levi's situation with his ex. Both of them had former lovers that wanted to be free to pursue others, but expected them not to do the same. Both of their exes snapped in a moment of jealousy over Erwin and Levi's relationship, and both of them were going to end up doing prison time for it.

"Strange, how things work out," he mumbled.

"I know what I did was wrong," Sean told him in a pleading voice. "I know I've got to pay for it. You're going to press charges, aren't you?"

Erwin thought about that. Unlike Jackson, Sean seemed genuinely contrite and ashamed of himself. "The county is going to press criminal charges, and I can't do anything about that," he informed the younger man, "but I won't press further charges against you. I believe you when you say that you regret what you did, and I'm going to give you the chance to turn your life back around. Keep it in mind though that this is the _only_ chance, Sean. You'll probably do time under county charges, but I won't add to that. If you pull something again in the future, I'll pursue legal justice without mercy. Is that understood?"

Sean sniffed, and he nodded. "You're a good guy, Erwin. I wouldn't be so forgiving."

"Then it's fortunate I'm not you," replied Erwin.

* * *

Levi was not very understanding when Erwin went to his place to visit him that evening and informed him of his intentions.

"Why in the fuck are you putting yourself out to try and help that shit-head get away with this?" demanded the barista while Erwin got on the phone with his assistant. "He damaged your car and he could have hospitalized or killed you if you'd been in it."

"I realize that," assured the blond, waiting for the other line to pick up. "I understand and respect your opinion on the matter, but I really believe he has a chance to turn his life around with a bit of help. That's why I want to hire a good lawyer for him. If I can help facilitate his redemption and healing process, I feel I'll be doing something for the greater good."

Erwin stepped closer to his lover, and he gazed into his eyes with all seriousness. "Please believe me when I say I'm not doing this out of any lingering romantic feelings for him. Sean is a tragic case right now, and there's no guarantee that he'll get a long sentence for the charges the county will press against him. It's better in the long run if he gets probation and psychiatric help to deal with his issues. It may guarantee he'll never try a thing like this again."

"So you're just being so damned nice for the hell of it?" Levi sighed, shaking his head. "Well, it's your money, and you've got plenty of it. I'm not going to try and tell you how to spend it, but I think this is a bad idea. You might come off as a pushover to him and it could all blow up in your face."

"He knows I'm not a pushover." Erwin had to pause the conversation, because he got his assistant's voicemail and had to leave a message. "Chloe, it's Erwin. I have an assignment for you to work on. I need you to look up the best lawyer you can find in the area and have the contact information for me by tomorrow morning. Thank you, and goodnight."

Levi half-grimaced at him. "You can't be bothered to do that yourself?"

"Hey, I pay her good wages...more than any other executive in my building pays their assistants. She gets paid vacation and sick days as well. She can handle a little side work."

Levi backed off. "Heh. Pissed you off, did I?"

Erwin relaxed, pocketing his cell phone. "I admit I'm defensive when people question how I treat my underlings. My apologies if I sounded too vehement a moment ago."

Levi shrugged, but there was still a light of suspicion in his pale eyes. "No biggie. You just seem really tense about making sure this guy gets off without any repercussions."

"I wouldn't put it that way," objected Erwin. "How do I explain it? I feel...sorry for him. Unlike Jackson, Sean seemed very contrite over his actions. He was scared out of his mind, too. Until I spoke with him in that prison today, I had no idea he felt so strongly about me or suffered such misery over our breakup. I want to help him because I don't like seeing him suffer and waste his potential."

Erwin put his arms around Levi, and he bent over to speak into the smaller man's ear. "But that doesn't mean I'm any less devoted to you. It's a personality flaw of mine to linger on protective feelings of the past, true, but _you're_ my lover now, and if it truly bothers you that much, then I'll cancel funding his legal protection. I don't want my feelings of charity to get between what you and I have, Levi."

Levi sighed, putting his arms around the blond in return. "I don't want you to do that for my sake. You'd end up feeling like you failed someone you think needs you, and then I'd feel bad for making you feel bad and it would be a whole fucked up cycle. Do what you need to do, Erwin. I just hope to hell this guy appreciates your generosity."

Erwin released his hold on Levi with one arm, and he cupped his chin to tilt his head back for a kiss. "Thank you. I'll admit there's some selfish motivation behind it. Part of why I'm doing this is for my own conscience."

"Yeah, I know." Levi smirked at him, and he reached up to straighten the blond's tie. "You always were like that; having some ulterior motive behind everything you did."

Erwin tilted his head curiously. "You speak like you've known me you're whole life."

Levi faltered a bit, and he averted his gaze. "Sometimes it feels that way."

"I know what you mean." Erwin smiled at him as Levi looked at him again. "I felt like I knew you from somewhere from the very beginning. I suppose it could be excused on the two of us having great chemistry between us, but sometimes I could almost believe in past lives. I know it sounds silly, but—"

"Doesn't sound silly to me," interrupted Levi. His lips were parted, and he was watching the older man with a subtly awed countenance. "I feel like that too. In fact, sometimes I...never mind."

"What were you going to say, Levi?" Erwin gave him a little squeeze. "I'm sure it can't be any stranger than some of the things that come out of my mouth."

"I don't know about that," murmured Levi. He hesitated a moment longer, and then he shrugged. "All right, since you're so interested. Sometimes I think I remember things from another life. They're like flashbacks, I guess. I had one so strong the night Jackson...the night he fell down the stairs that it was almost like watching a scene from a movie. It uh...shit, this is gonna sound even crazier, but it snapped me out of my daze and gave me strength to fight back."

Erwin didn't try to contradict him. He just gazed at him with what he hoped was an understanding expression on his face. It gave him a little thrill to hear Levi confess this to him, made him think that maybe he wasn't out of his mind, after all. He wasn't alone; his lover also felt that familiarity with him. Hange was wrong, as far as Erwin was concerned. Reincarnation _did_ exist and there were at least a handful of people in Erwin's life, including Levi, that he was sure he'd known in a different era.

"In this flashback you experienced," began the older man thoughtfully, "what was involved in it, exactly? Was I there?"

"Yeah." Levi nodded, his brows pinching a bit as he considered the moment. "You were leading a charge behind me, and I was attacking...something."

"Something?" pressed Erwin.

Levi sighed. "It just keeps getting crazier. Bear with me here and try not to laugh at me."

"I wouldn't do that," promised Erwin, "not over something that somehow helped you fend off an aggressor intent on violating you. Please, tell me."

Levi met his eyes again, appearing faintly uncertain. "We were all in uniforms with green capes, and we all had some kind of harnesses with gear attached to them. You and the others were on horseback, but I was flying through the air on wires that shot out of my gear and anchored into this...thing we were chasing after. It looked like a naked, bloated person but it had to be at least thirty feet tall. I had a pair of big swords and I was aiming for the back of the giant's neck. You were yelling commands and coming to support me. I got the feeling you were the leader of the army."

Everything about what Levi said rang familiar to Erwin. So familiar in fact, the hairs on his arms and the back of his neck stood up and his flesh pebbled with goose bumps. "Were there any emblems or symbols on our uniforms that you can recall?"

Levi frowned, and he took a moment to think about it before answering. "Yeah. The cloaks we were all wearing had a symbol of a pair of wings on the back of them."

"Wings," mused Erwin. He looked at the pendant hanging around Levi's neck; the one he wore often with the two fused silver angel wings. He toyed with it curiously, watching it glint in the lamp light. "Wings like these?"

Levi shook his head. "No, they were simpler than that. They looked like the kind of badge you'd see on military uniforms, like it represented a regiment? Anyway, one was silver and the other was black...or blue. I can't remember clearly."

"Maybe we were in a sort of Calvary group, then."

Levi tilted his head. "You're not even going to question the giant naked guy we were attacking?"

Erwin smirked a little. "I'll admit, that's the part of it that would suggest a dream or nightmare rather than reality, but consider the circumstance you were in when it happened."

"Yeah," agreed Levi. "I did take a little psychology for extra credits. The instructor would probably tie it all into some kind of symbolism."

"Let's say it _was_ symbolic of your situation or feelings," Erwin murmured. "What do you think it could mean?"

Levi appeared troubled for a moment, and he pulled out of Erwin's embrace to walk over to the window overlooking the driveway below. "If this was a scenario out of a text book for study, I'd say you were there because of your involvement in my life. You're a supporting figure in this vision or flashback or whatever the hell it was. You're always encouraging me in life and trying to help me, so it makes sense you'd have my back in a dream about a combat scenario."

Erwin nodded, and he came up behind Levi. He rubbed his shoulders attentively to ease his sudden tension. "And what about the winged emblem and the giant you were engaging?"

"Hmm. The giant could represent Jackson," pondered Levi. "He's bigger than me and he had me at a disadvantage. All I know is something in me snapped, and I thought to myself that if I could take down something thirty feet tall, I could do the same with him. As for the wings, what else could they represent but freedom? That could be why flight was involved too, even if I was only airborne because of those cables I'd harpooned the big guy with."

"Wings of freedom," whispered Erwin, going still behind the smaller man. "It's perfect. It sounds right."

"Yeah." Levi agreed, also whispering.

It was like they were both wary of saying it too loud, as if it would be disrespectful to the concept and the symbol itself to just blurt it out. It did sound like a wild fantasy story, but it didn't feel made up, to Erwin. He couldn't recall ever dreaming of something like what Levi had described, yet he could easily envision the uniforms, the wild terrain and the sight of Levi soaring through the air with a pair of deadly blades in his hands.

Levi turned around to face Erwin again, and he searched the blond's face with his eyes. "I don't have a big imagination. Not with things like this, anyway. I know it couldn't have really happened, too. There's nothing in history about any evidence of real giants existing, just some mythology and fairy tales. We'd have to have lived in a totally different era before recorded history for any of that to be real, right?"

"You would think so," agreed Erwin. "Maybe it really was a psychological reaction to what was happening to you. Maybe your subconscious mind has a greater imagination than you think, but I'll part with a secret, Levi."

"What secret?" prompted the bartender.

Erwin took a slow breath. He felt like just saying it plainly out loud might lend the impression that he was mentally unbalanced, but his lover had shared his experience with him, so he should be honest in return.

"Lately, I've started to believe in reincarnation," Erwin finally admitted. "I don't discuss it in depth with anyone. I'm known for being a logical and practical man, not given to flights of fancy. When the subject comes up, I tend to treat it as supposition without giving it away that I actually believe in it. Beneath my mask, however, I've become rather spiritual since meeting you. I now believe in fate. I believe you and I knew each other before we met in the tea bar. I even believe in part that we're destined to be together, though I've been afraid to say so directly to you or anyone else."

Levi stared at him. "Huh. That's more than I expected to hear. You know what, though?"

"What?"

Levi gave a bare smirk. "You aren't as logical and practical as you think."

"Oh?" Erwin tweaked a dark strand of Levi's hair. "Then how would you describe me?"

"I think you're a dreamer," obliged Levi. "You hide it pretty well, but you've got some big ideas in that blond head. You're pretty creative and idealistic. Maybe you aren't artistic, but you definitely think outside the box and you have a sort of vision I can't describe. You see the world differently than most other people; I figured that out fast after we met."

"I hadn't realized anyone would describe me that way," said Erwin. He wasn't sure if he was pleased by the observation or worried over it. "I would hate to think my clients and associates think of me as a daydreamer."

"You don't need to worry about that," Levi assured with a shake of his head. "Fact is, people respect you because you're clever, you're good at what you do and you have a commanding presence. I don't think that would change if they found out you're open to the possibility of reincarnation being a real thing. Lots of brilliant people in history were religious or creative or even insane, and look at the things they accomplished. Nobody's gonna have you committed just because you believe in an afterlife and rebirth."

Erwin smiled softly at him. "You make a good point. I appreciate the vote of confidence."

"Glad I could lift you up a little." Levi stroked his palms over Erwin's chest. "Have you eaten dinner yet? I could whip something up for us if you can stay a while."

Reminded that he'd hardly eaten all day, Erwin patted his growling stomach. "Dinner would be great, Levi. Can I help you prepare it?"

"No, just relax and watch TV or something. I'm not going to be making a gourmet meal since I'm due to get groceries again soon, but I can at least cook you a hot meal. Want something to drink? I stocked the fridge with a six pack of that imported beer you like, if you're in the mood for it."

"That would be fine," agreed Erwin. "Thank you."

* * *

Levi's pantry was even barer than he'd thought. He hadn't been eating at home much lately, instead bringing home pre-made meals, salads and fruits from the little food market on the way to and from work. He grimaced in frustration as he surveyed his culinary options. He had plenty of canned peas, beans and greens, but he needed to offer his lover more than canned veggies as a meal. He checked his freezer and found that he had no proteins in there; not even breaded frozen fish. All he had in the fridge was a pack of turkey lunchmeat and some tofu.

"Shit." Levi closed the fridge and the freezer, and he parted the curtain blocking off the kitchen from the living room. "Hey Erwin, my selection in here sucks right now. We might have to order something delivered unless you want mac and cheese with peas on the side."

"Actually, I like macaroni and cheese," said the older man graciously. "I haven't had it in some time. Is it the boxed sort with the powdered flavor packet?"

Levi winced. "Yeah. I buy five packs of 'em when my funds are low because they're cheap."

"That's the best kind," assured Erwin. "I have no problem indulging in a guilty pleasure tonight, but if you would rather have something delivered, I can cover it for us."

"No, you're not paying for dinner tonight," insisted Levi sternly. "I'll doctor up the mac and cheese. I want to treat _you_ for once, even if it sucks a little."

Erwin laughed softly, shaking his head. "Levi, as much of a perfectionist as you are, I doubt even a boxed meal will 'suck' once you've finished with it."

* * *

Levi finished making the embarrassing meal, and he had to admit it didn't turn out too bad. With a little TLC in the form of appropriate extra seasoning and fresh chopped chives added to the pasta, it turned out okay. The peas he dressed up with a little wasabi powder and soy to give it a nice tang, and he made some quick garlic bread slices in the toaster to go on the side. He and Erwin ate at his small dining table together; Erwin sipping his beer with a glass of ice water on the side and Levi enjoying simply ice water with a squeeze of lemon.

"This is good," complimented the blond after sampling a bite of each food item. "You don't give yourself enough credit."

Levi shrugged, and he sprinkled a little black pepper on his macaroni. "I guess when you've got a tight food budget, you learn to doctor things up and make the best of it. Glad it didn't bomb."

"There's nothing wrong with mac and cheese," reiterated Erwin, "so long as it's not all a person lives on. Would you like to go grocery shopping with me on Sunday?"

Levi gave him a suspicious glance, and Erwin held his hands up in a pacifying gesture. "I'm not trying to be sneaky and buy your groceries for you. I understand how you feel about things like that. I just thought it would be easier for you to get more of them if you had a car available to load and transport the goods you buy. In addition, I can pick up some things and treat you to dinner at my place that night. What do you say?"

Levi relaxed. Erwin wasn't wrong. He'd come to know him well. "All right. Come and pick me up around two on Sunday. I can switch with Rick and do an early shift instead of the evening one."

"Do you think he'll go for it?" asked Erwin.

"Yeah, Rick hates the early shifts as much as I do. Usually the girls do them, but we all rotate sometimes so everyone has a chance to get things done if they want to make plans during their usual work hours but don't want to take a day off. Works out pretty well for us all."

"Sunday it is, then." Erwin sipped his water and took a bite of macaroni, followed by a nibble of garlic bread. He watched Levi in a thoughtful manner as he chewed and swallowed. "I have some unused vacation time."

Levi raised a brow. "Okay. Are you planning on going anywhere with that, or are you just filling dead air?"

The older man smiled, and he dropped his gaze to his plate to scoop up some peas. "I was thinking it would be nice for us to get away for a little while, once things settle down. Once you've finished your term, I mean. If you can get about five days off work, I would like to take you with me on a road trip."

"You mean like sight seeing or something?"

Erwin shook his head. "I mean to the strip on Carlton beach up to the northwest. We could get a suite at the casino resort, enjoy some of the tourist attractions like the aquarium, the boardwalk and the shows and see what the night life is like."

"Hmm," pondered Levi. "That might work, but I should let you know I don't gamble. I never have any luck with it and I'm too broke to waste the money on it."

"That's all right. I wasn't planning to have casino hopping on the list of activities, though I might try my hand at some black jack or poker machines myself while we're there. How about a bargain, Levi? I'll give you a hundred dollars—"

"Oi, if you want to buy me a keepsake or some drinks or food, that's fine, but I don't want to take your money," objected Levi.

"You didn't let me finish," remonstrated Erwin softly. "I was about to say I'll give you one-hundred dollars to gamble with. That way you won't be spending your own money and I won't feel bad for doing a bit of gambling when you can't. You might find your luck to be better when it isn't your own money you're spending, anyway."

"Huh." Levi scratched his chin. "And if I win?"

"You keep the winnings and spend them on whatever you wish. Consider it a gift from your boyfriend."

Levi was about to say he'd split the winnings with Erwin instead, if some miracle happened and he managed to get ahead. A better idea came to him, though. "Whatever I want, eh? All right, you've got a deal. I'll see about getting some solid dates for you by the end of the week so we can plan this thing and lock it in."

"Good."

Erwin seemed pleased with the outcome of his idea. They finished their dinner, and he helped Levi wash up afterwards. They sat out on the porch together so Levi could enjoy a cigarette and Erwin could smoke a cigar. It was a nice, cool evening, with clear skies, a half-moon and bright stars. Levi purposely shut off the porch light so they could see the stars better.

"Why don't you stay the night?" offered Levi after a few moments of companionable silence.

Erwin's pleased expression faded into one of quiet frustration. "I would love to take you up on that offer, but I didn't bring anything to change into for work tomorrow."

Levi leaned in closer, quite confident that he could make the blond cave. He squeezed Erwin's knee, and he spoke in a seductive drone. "Well then, why don't I go home with you? I can pack a change of clothes and some toiletries, and you could drop me off back here before work tomorrow."

"I...wake up very early for my job compared to you," breathed Erwin. The blue of his eyes seemed to intensify with desire.

Levi shrugged. "Then leave me at your place, if you trust me enough to stay there alone. I've got a late shift tomorrow. You could drop me off at work after dinner. Maybe I could cook you something more elegant than boxed macaroni and cheese."

Erwin smiled at him, and he caressed the smaller man's face. "A very clever compromise, I must say. I trust you completely, Levi. You should know that you're always welcome at my home. I even..."

Levi tilted his head when his lover trailed off. "Even what?"

Erwin cleared his throat, and he spoke again in a softer tone. "I don't want to spook you. That being said, I would like to exchange copies of our keys. Only if you're comfortable with it. That way, you can come to my place if it's more convenient or I could come to yours. What do you think of that?"

Levi hesitated, wondering if they were both ready for such a step. True, Erwin had proven that he was nothing like Jackson. He'd assuaged all of Levi's concerns, and he was probably the most loyal boyfriend the bartender had ever had. Then there was that deep, almost spiritual connection between the two of them and Levi's certainty that they had known one another in another time and place before this life.

_~It's not like he's asking me to move in with him. He just wants us both to be able to come and go from each other's as we please.~_

"I've never done anything like that before," confessed Levi at last. "What happens if our relationship tanks and we break up?"

"I have no intention of letting our relationship tank," Erwin proclaimed. He cupped Levi's chin, and he searched the younger man's eyes. "I think it sets a couple up for failure for one or both of them to predict an end to their relationship, Levi. I understand you have misgivings, and rightfully so. However, I can assure you that I won't be the one to call it quits. I've finally found the person I want to be with, no question about it. The only thing that needs to be asked is whether _you_ are in this for the long haul, as I am."

Levi flushed, now realizing that his words did indeed lend the impression that he wasn't devoted to this arrangement between them. He drew from hidden reserves of strength, deciding that for once, he needed to be open about his feelings rather than try to hide or downplay them. "I don't ever want to lose you. I feel the same way, to tell you the truth. I'm just used to things taking a turn for the worse, so a part of me is always trying to brace for it even when things are going well. Does that make any sense?"

Erwin nodded. "It does, and it would seem like wisdom if it weren't so personal to me. Trying to protect your heart is a sensible survival tactic. I just hope that one day I can wipe away the last of your doubts about me."

"It's not you I doubt," corrected Levi, sighing. "It's myself. I'm a dumper."

Erwin's brows lifted slightly. "A 'dumper'?"

"Yeah." Levi nodded. "When times get rough, I'm pretty fast to pull the trigger and blow away relationships. Fact is, every relationship I've had ended with me breaking things off. I've never given guys a chance to break up with me; I always do it first."

"And you think you'll eventually decide our time together has to end?"

Levi closed his eyes, and he shook his head uncertainly. "I don't want to think that way. It's just sometimes I look at the way things are going and it seems too good to be true...like a fantasy."

Erwin stroked his hair. "And it frightens you to be happy?"

Levi shrugged, not answering the question because he never liked to admit it when he felt scared.

"Look at me, love."

The smaller man opened his eyes obediently, meeting the shocking blue of his lover's stare. Erwin's attractive features bore a solemn expression, and he spoke in a softer, lower voice.

"You deserve happiness, Levi. I don't know if it's because you had a rough childhood or if it's simply an attitude you adopted on your own, but joy can and does occur in life. You aren't going to jinx anything by allowing yourself to be happy, understand? True, things aren't always going to be perfect. I'm sure our first real argument is bound to happen sooner or later, but we'll deal with it as it comes, work things out and move on. No relationship is perfect, regardless of the chemistry between two people. Don't be afraid, and don't run from me. I'm begging you to give your heart to this, as I am."

Speaking of hearts, Levi's started beating hard and fast at those inspiring words. It was so similar to Erwin shouting at his soldiers to offer up their hearts to humanity, only this time, he used it in reference to their partnership.

"Let's exchange key copies, then," he finally agreed. "We can trade them over when we go grocery shopping this weekend."

Erwin smiled. "Fantastic."

* * *

Erwin was more than pleased with how the evening progressed from there. Levi packed up his laptop, a change of clothing and some personal toiletries before riding with the blond to his apartment downtown. They watched the evening news together, cuddled up on the couch in a sweetly domestic manner. When the clock struck ten, Erwin had to call it a night. He invited Levi to stay up as long as he wished, not wanting his guest to feel like he had to go to sleep just because Erwin had to be up early in the morning. Levi told him he was tired enough to go to bed with him, and they retired to the master bedroom together.

Erwin watched Levi covertly as they undressed, and he steadily hardened in his pants as more of that lithe, pale body was revealed to his hungry gaze. Levi caught him staring, and he gave Erwin's crotch a pointed look.

"Aren't you gonna take those off?" said the younger man with a nod at Erwin's trousers.

"Oh. Yes, of course." A bit embarrassed by the lapse, Erwin unzipped his pants and pulled them down. There was no sense in trying to hide his condition; he was sure Levi had already seen the bulge. When Levi stripped out of his dark blue briefs, Erwin got confirmation of his suspicion that the smaller man was in a similar state of arousal.

Erwin sighed, pausing in the act of removing his last piece of clothing to admire his lover's full nudity. There wasn't an inch of Levi's body that wasn't beautiful to him. He didn't even care that he no doubt had an openly smitten expression on his face. He just watched his boyfriend neatly fold his clothes and set them on top of the dresser beside his backpack. Levi glanced back over his shoulder at Erwin, his smoky gaze caressing the blond from head to toe.

"Lose the underwear, chief."

Again, Erwin had forgotten he was supposed to be stripping naked as well. He quickly remedied that, tugging his designer underwear down and stepping out of them. His erection wobbled as he joined Levi on the bed, and he lay on his side and put an arm around the other man to pull him closer.

"I'm supposed to be thinking of getting a full night's sleep," murmured the blond. He kissed the side of Levi's neck, and he slid his hand down his back to cup a perfectly firm ass cheek. "Sleep is the furthest thing from my mind now, however."

Levi smirked knowingly, and he rubbed his thigh against Erwin's hardness. "How may hours of rest do you need to function right? More than six?"

"I usually gun for eight," answered the blond between kisses. He licked the smooth skin that his lips were brushing against. "Six would suffice, though."

"Then I'd better make sure and wear you out good." Levi's hand splayed over Erwin's broad chest, and he stroked it, pausing to tweak a nipple. "Orgasms are a good stress reliever. How about we put that into practice?"

"I couldn't agree more."

Erwin rolled Levi onto his back, wedged a leg between his thighs and crushed his moth against the younger man's. He pried his boyfriend's lips apart and slid his tongue in demandingly, stroking and thrusting inside of Levi's mouth. A little gasp was the only expressed surprise from Levi. He fell into it right away, caressing Erwin's invading tongue with his own and mapping out his body with his hands.

It was on the tip of Erwin's tongue to ask Levi if he would be willing to take it up a level and allow himself to be tied up, but the blond prudently refrained. It was still too soon after Jackson's assault. Levi was putting up a strong front, but he had to be more emotionally damaged over that encounter than he let on. It was just in his nature not to expose any weaknesses, be it to enemies or friends.

Keeping that in mind, Erwin curbed his thirst for exploring kinks. He gentled his kiss, and he eased some of his weight off Levi's body. He did these things subtly, knowing Levi would notice if he got _too_ gentle and it might insult him, somehow. He was a proud young man. Regardless of good intentions, Levi might see it as coddling and get upset if he thought Erwin was afraid he couldn't handle some rough loving.

"Levi," husked the blond, breaking the kiss to meander his way down that supple, toned body. He was aching. He needed to be joined with him again. They hadn't had sex since the day after Levi's ordeal, and even then, Erwin had been reluctant to engage in it. Confident that his lover was stable enough to engage in regular intimacy, Erwin stuck with what he knew pleasured Levi the most. He licked his nipples, slowly circling them one at a time with the tip of his tongue. They popped to attention right away, and he gently tugged at the left one with his lips.

"Mmm," hummed Levi, flesh pebbling with the sensation. "Feels so good, blondie."

Encouraged by the response, Erwin bumped his swollen package against Levi's right inner thigh, and he sucked on the tight nipple. Levi's breath shivered and a tremor went through him, followed by a soft groan. It made Erwin love him all the more to witness Levi's composure steadily crumbling beneath his efforts.

The blond paused, eyes popping open. Love. There was that word again. It wasn't the first time it had manifested in his head since getting involved with Levi, but he'd brushed it off as infatuation, thinking it was moving too fast this soon in their relationship. It felt real, though. Even as the concept of the two of them knowing each other from a past life seemed far-fetched, Erwin had a conviction in his bones that he'd loved Levi fiercely since before even laying eyes on him in his present existence.

He kept his thoughts to himself, though he did have the reassurance now that Levi at least believed in the possibility that they'd been reborn. Erwin focused on pleasuring the man, while at the same time keeping his own need in check so as not to let it take over his common sense. Levi was already reaching out with one hand and flailing with the bedside table drawer, trying to get it open so he could get to the sex goods kept inside of it.

"Other drawer," reminded Erwin, hardly pausing his attentions on his lover's chest.

Levi corrected his error and checked the nightstand on the opposite side of the bed. It was then that Erwin recalled the additional items he'd recently picked up, and he started to try and stop the younger man before Levi could find them without first hearing an explanation.

"Levi, wait—"

The barista withdrew a pair of cuffs from the drawer, held them up before his eyes and stared at them. His gray eyes flicked questioningly to Erwin, and Levi scooted closer to the edge of the bed and rolled slightly to the side to have a closer look at the drawer's contents. A narrow brow went up, and Levi retrieved an unopened vibrating butt plug next. Further digging procured the blindfold Erwin had bought; but that could have easily been assumed as a sleeping aid to keep light out. Still, Levi was obviously suspicious, and he placed the items in a row on the bed.

"Please tell me all of this is intended for me, and not some other twink you've taken a liking to."

The reaction wasn't exactly what Erwin was expecting. He met his lover's narrowing gaze, and he detected the jealousy in the pale depths of his eyes.

"Of course I had you in mind," he said after gathering his wits. "I only just recently picked them up. Please don't get the wrong idea, Levi. I had plans to talk to you about it later on, when you've had more time to recover from..." He didn't want to say it. He feared it would just spoil the mood.

"Recover from Jackson trying to rape me, you mean." Levi bit his lower lip, and he looked at the items he'd discovered. "Hey, I appreciate you trying to be considerate, but I already told you that there's no way I'm going to let that asshole's actions ruin our sex life. How long have you been thinking of using this stuff, anyhow?"

"I admit, I picked it all up before that night occurred. I would have discussed it with you before, but the timing didn't feel right. I don't want you feel unsafe or pressured, Levi."

The smaller man nodded. "I get that. Listen, you don't have to treat me with kid gloves all the time. I might have some issues right now, but I'm a survivor. You don't have to worry about making me feel unsafe, because I never do when I'm with you. If I flinch now and then it's involuntary, and it'll go away eventually."

Erwin relaxed a bit. He stroked Levi's ridged, tight stomach. "You've also told me you had some bad experiences with BDSM in the past. I was hoping for a more ideal moment to bring up the subject."

"I don't think there's such a thing as an 'ideal moment', when it comes to me." Levi smirked wryly. "You've just got to have the stones to come out with it, tell me what's on your mind and give me the chance to respond before you jump to conclusions."

Erwin nodded. "Of course. Well, now that it's out in the open, what do you think of trying out a bit of bondage play sometime? Nothing hardcore. I've never been into whips or chains or hot wax. Just a little restraint and some toys."

Levi glanced at the accessories laid out on the bed again, and he hesitated. "Not tonight, but I'm not against exploring that idea later on. I know I said I'm not going to let what happened choke off our sex life, but I think I do need a little more time before I'm comfortable trying this out."

"I think that's a fair compromise," agreed Erwin. He appreciated Levi's self-awareness and honesty more than ever before. "I'm grateful that you're being so reasonable about this. I was afraid you would get pissed off."

"I'm not _that_ bad," insisted Levi. "I'm open to trying new things, as long as they're discussed with me and I don't get tricked into them."

"Yes, you've been quite generous." Erwin smiled, recalling the strip tease and lap dance Levi had given him a while back. A part of him wondered how far Levi was willing to go to satisfy some of Erwin's curiosities in kinks, but he was too worldly to push for too much.

Levi picked up the items and replaced them back in the drawer. He rummaged around for the lube and condoms, holding them up meaningfully while gazing at the blond with bedroom eyes. "Now, where were we?"

* * *

Levi wasn't sure how, but it seemed like every time they had sex it just kept getting better and better. This time he rode Erwin front-facing, and he stared down at the gorgeous blond executive as he rocked on top of him. Erwin had his hands on Levi's hips, squeezing them and guiding his movements. His expression was tense, and Levi knew he was trying to hold back. He appreciated the courtesy even though he didn't say so aloud. It was good to be the one setting the pace sometimes, especially when he felt like he needed to get his power back.

"You like that?" huffed Levi, rolling his hips faster.

Erwin groaned, eyes fluttering shut. He nodded, his jaw clenching. He opened his eyes again, and he slid one hand up from where it was stationed on Levi's hip. He teased the younger man's nipples one at a time, and with his other hand, he began to stroke Levi's cock. Sheathed as it was in a condom to contain the inevitable mess, the sensation was slightly dulled yet delightful all the same.

"The way you move," panted Erwin. "You're so damned good, Levi."

"I know," replied Levi shamelessly. He rotated his pelvis, biting his lip. "Nnnh...god, I love how you feel inside me. Hah, right there. No, don't move, Erwin. I'm steering this ship tonight."

Erwin dutifully went still, nostrils flaring with effort to obey. Levi tweaked the blond's nipples, panting softly. He had the perfect angle, and he intended to take full advantage of that. The jolts he experienced each time his lover's cock ring bumped against his prostate got more intense with each thrust, and Levi broke into a sweat. He started to moan uncontrollably, his face flushing. Erwin stopped stroking him off and playing with his nipples to gather handfuls of the bed sheets. His teeth were clenched, and he started to growl.

"Fuck, Levi," came the heartfelt, strained exclamation from the older man's tense mouth.

"Easy, big stuff," gasped Levi—though to be fair, he was riding the edge himself. He started bouncing on top of him, feeling the slap of Erwin's balls against his ass. The friction of the blond's pubic hair rubbing against Levi's own sack increased his pleasure, and he doubted he had much more left in him. He tossed his head and bit back a scream when his companion lost his remaining self control and began pounding into him from below.

"Ahh...oh shit...oh shit, Erwin!"

Levi couldn't even fathom getting onto him for disobeying his instructions to stay still. He embraced Erwin around the neck as the older man sat up, grabbed his legs and positioned them around his waist. Levi rasped into his lover's ear as Erwin held him tight and started taking him with quick, firm pumps. His vision went white around the edges and his entire body shuddered at Erwin's mercy. Levi could hear the other man's labored, heavy breathing in his ear, and pulses of sensation ripped through him from his pelvis to the tips of his toes.

Levi came so hard that his condom couldn't contain all of his spunk, and it dribbled out from the base of it. There was no room to complain over it; Erwin was still going to town on him. Levi's world shrunk around him, and all he could feel or think about was the feeling of his lover's hard length driving into him again and again. Curses spilled from his lips, and both men were so used to it that they barely even noticed his profanities.

Erwin finally came, his hips lifting off the mattress and a hearty groan breaking free. He cupped the back of Levi's head, urging him to rest it on his shoulder as he pulsed inside of him. Levi kissed the side of his lover's neck, breathing fast and hard against it.

They remained that way for several minutes, catching their breath and recovering from the experience. After a while, Levi took his head off Erwin's shoulder and he combed his fingers through the sweat-dampened, mussed blond hair.

"How about it, old man?" he inquired breathlessly. "Think you'll get to sleep easily now?"

"I think," wheezed Erwin, "that I'll sleep like a baby."

They kissed, and Erwin helped Levi disengage from him so that they could dispose of their condoms and wipe off. There was a little spot of dampness on the bed from where Levi had overflowed earlier, but it wasn't bad. Erwin simply pulled the top cover back and adjusted the thermostat to make the apartment a bit warmer. They lay down side by side together once they'd taken care of everything. Levi bent and tucked his bottom arm under the pillow, and he watched his companion's shadowed, contented face. The faint moonlight that came through the blinds cast a soft glow on Erwin's features. The blond already had his eyes shut, and one big hand rested intimately on Levi's upper hip.

He really did have noble features, Levi observed. He reached out, hesitated briefly and then traced Erwin's face with his fingertips. He thought he could just stare at him all night long, but he did have studying to do the next day before his work shift.

Erwin's eyes opened slowly, and they caught and held Levi's. "Are you going to be able to sleep, love?"

Levi nodded. "Maybe not right away, but I'll drift off eventually. Plus, this is a really comfortable bed. I never wake up with a sore back or hips when I sleep here."

Erwin smirked. "Maybe you're getting old."

Levi stopped caressing the older man's face to give his bottom a swat. "If I'm old, what does that make you?"

"A fossil," came the dry, ready answer.

"Heh. Well goodnight then, fossil. I'll make sure nobody digs you up overnight and sticks you in a museum."

"My hero," yawned Erwin. His eyes drifted shut again, and he sighed in contentment.

Levi kept watching him until Erwin's deep, even breathing indicated that he'd fallen asleep. His own lids started to grow heavy, so Levi followed Erwin's example and closed his eyes. He didn't have any nightmares about Jackson that night.

* * *

-To be continued


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter of "Fantasy". Levi and Erwin's bond strengthens, and now that the antagonists causing strife on their relationship have been dealt with, they're free to plan for the future and focus on each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, we're starting to get hammered down here by the storm, and the power has flickered a few times. Therefore, I'm just going to leave this right here and post the final chapter early. I hope everyone enjoyed the story and the happy ending! There will probably be one or two mini follow-ups later, because I really enjoyed this plot scenario. See you after Hurricane Irma sputters out!

The couple exchanged keys over the weekend as agreed, and after grocery shopping they enjoyed a meal together at Erwin's apartment. Levi started to stay over more often after that. In fact he stayed three, sometimes four days in a row depending on his schedule. If Levi had two or more later shifts in a row, Erwin would pick him up from work, bring him home and then drive Levi to work again the next day after spending an hour with him after getting home from the office. When Levi had early shifts he would stay at his own place and walk to work. Sometimes Erwin would go over to Levi's after he finished work and stay the night with him, but more often than not it was the other way around.

Of course, there were those instances in which Erwin's corporate duties resulted in late nights at the office crunching numbers and prepping for big presentations or meetings. Such things couldn't be helped, but sometimes Levi would surprise him by getting a ride with a friend to Erwin's apartment, and the older man would come home to find his lover sitting at the table with his laptop, sipping tea whilst working on a class assignment or studying.

Not once did Erwin feel invaded or uncomfortable with Levi coming and going as he saw fit. He was an impeccable house guest; always cleaning up after himself, always keeping quiet when he stayed up later than Erwin, always making the bed after getting up. Levi even set up the coffee maker when he stayed the night so that Erwin would always have a freshly brewed pot ready for him in the morning. They took turns cooking meals when they didn't go out anywhere to eat.

The amusing thing to Erwin was the fact that Levi had begun nesting. He was sure the little neat fanatic didn't consciously do it, but over time Levi brought personal things to Erwin's and simply left them there. He bought extra bottles of his favorite shampoo and conditioner, boxes of his tea and even one of his own pillows from home that he preferred to sleep on. Eventually, Levi had his own organizing baskets inside one of the bathroom cabinets filled with hygiene products he favored. He even brought a bathrobe from his duplex to hang on the master bathroom door beside Erwin's.

Erwin didn't call attention to it. He liked it that Levi felt comfortable enough to bring some of his own things over, and he didn't want to wreck that by teasing him about it. As far as he was concerned, every little toiletry, cup or other personal item Levi kept in his apartment was another step in the right direction.

Sean's court date approached, and Erwin took care of getting him a good lawyer as promised. Unfortunately, he was required to give his testimony, though he did try to get out of it. He just wanted to move on and focus on what he'd built with Levi. Erwin had to take a day off to attend the trial, and he made it abundantly clear that he had no intention of pressing additional criminal charges on top of what the county would be bringing up against his ex.

Hange was in full agreement with Levi that Erwin was being too nice, but he was unbendable. By Erwin's reasoning, Sean screwed up but he needed help more than punishment. He braced himself for the court date, and when Levi offered to take a day off and come with him, he turned him down.

"I don't think it's necessary for you to be there unless you're called as a witness to the scene," reasoned Erwin over the phone. "It would just needlessly upset you."

"Damned right, it upsets me." The tone of Levi's voice left little doubt that he was frowning on the other line. "I get why you feel like you should cut him some slack. You've got a history with him and you feel sorry for him. We all get that, Erwin, but if you weren't as well-off as you are, what would you have done? He almost totaled your car."

"Even if I were in a lower income bracket, my insurance would have covered it," insisted Erwin. "I'll be fine, Levi. I just want this day to be over with."

Levi sighed. "I'd still like to be there. If he turns on the waterworks you might end up spending even more money on him trying to get him cleared of all charges."

"Sean is going to have to take his lumps," Erwin stated calmly. "Whatever the judge rules is what he has to abide by. I'm not looking to get him out of this with a slap on the wrist. I simply want to see to it that he gets a chance, not a full pardon. I'm pulling up to the courthouse now, so I'll have to call you back later."

"All right. Tell me how it goes. I'll be on standby."

* * *

Sean got six months jail time, a hefty fine and a year's probation. All in all it was a fair enough sentence. Jackson would also face charges, but his day at court wouldn't be for months because of his condition and the length of time it would take for him to recover. Levi predicted that he would be finished with his current school term and possibly even starting on his next one before the legal system dealt with his ex, so he started looking into setting a date for the proposed trip Erwin wanted to take with him.

Levi gunned for Friday through Monday on the second week after finals, figuring it would be better for him and his lover to have a four-day weekend in the agreed upon vacation area. He called Erwin up once he cleared it with his boss, making sure to leave some wiggle room in case it was going to be too difficult for both him and Erwin to get those days off. It worked out perfectly. Due to the advanced early notice, Erwin was able to procure the suggested dates off, and the couple began to make their travel plans.

Time seemed to fly by—possibly because Levi was so swamped and focused on finishing his term with the highest grade point average possible. He buried himself in it, taking an extra day off work here and there to give himself more time to devote to his studies. His friends and his mother were understanding about the lack of time he had for them, but Levi could tell that no matter how polite and supportive his boyfriend tried to be, Erwin was starting to feel neglected.

He decided he needed to remedy that when Erwin made a subtle remark over the phone during one conversation, confirming Levi's suspicions.

"I'm impressed with your resolve and devotion to your studies," said the older man, "though I think this is the first time I've ever felt jealousy towards higher learning."

Levi blinked, and then he groaned softly. He combed his bangs back with his fingers, and he plopped down on his couch. "Shit. I'm doing the same thing I used to complain about."

"Hmm?" came the older man's response. "How do you mean?"

"I mean being stingy with my time," explained Levi. "I haven't had much time for you, have I?"

"Levi, it's okay," soothed Erwin.

"No it isn't. Stop being so fucking understanding. You always make time for me but I haven't been returning the favor."

"You're working towards a degree that will give you some great opportunities," countered Erwin. "Don't let my little remark bother you. It was meant as a joke."

"Well, it's not funny." Levi checked the clock. "I'm coming over tonight, if that's all right by you."

"You know it's more than all right by me," assured the blond. "I don't have to work late, so I can come and pick you up as soon as I leave the office."

Levi nodded. "Perfect. I've got two more late shifts before my vacation time starts, so if you're fine with dropping me there and picking me up 'till Thursday, I'll finish the packing I started for our trip and just stay with you until we leave."

"You're already packed?" Erwin sounded surprised.

"Yeah, halfway." Levi flushed a little, glad his lover couldn't see his face. "I guess I'm more keyed up about this getaway you came up with than I thought."

Erwin chuckled. "I'm glad you're excited about this. All right; I'll come and get you after work. Don't rush yourself and forget anything you might want to take with us, all right?"

"Right," agreed Levi.

* * *

Erwin was half expecting to find Levi waiting with several pieces of luggage when he arrived at his place. Instead, Levi only had one suitcase, a zipper bag for a formal outfit and his laptop bag. None of the luggage was bulging out, so Levi must not have packed much. He explained that he'd learned to travel lightly as he grew up. Apparently he and his mother had moved a lot from location to location while he was growing up. It made sense, given the man's personality and efficiency.

"Besides," Levi explained as they loaded his belongings into Erwin's trunk, "If I stuffed it full, I wouldn't have room to bring any souvenirs back for my mom and my friends."

Erwin smiled in agreement. He also intended to pick up some keepsakes, not to mention buy some things for Levi while they were there. "You would have done well in the armed forces with that attitude," he informed his lover once they were seated in the car and buckled up.

"Maybe." Levi shrugged. "I still think about enlisting sometimes, but I've gotten too far towards my degree to do it right now."

"Yes, you should finish earning that degree before contemplating a major career shift," approved Erwin with a nod. He drove the car away from Levi's house, and he changed the radio to a local pop station. Erwin noticed Levi still tensed a little in his seat when they came to intersections, and he wondered if the younger man would ever feel completely at ease in a car again.

"Maybe we should have just booked a flight to our destination," he muttered.

"Why?" asked Levi. "It's only about an eight hour drive, right? Once we're on the open road I can take the wheel for a while if you get tired of driving. I've still keep my license up to date."

"I don't have you covered by my car insurance yet," admitted Erwin. "I've been meaning to look into that just in case, but things kept getting in the way. I'll call my agent before we leave for our trip and see about adding you under the coverage."

"I forgot about that," sighed Levi. "You comfortable with me being under your insurance?"

"I wouldn't offer if I weren't," pointed out the blond with a brief little smile. "You never know; I may go out of town for a business trip before long. I think it would be sensible to give you spare keys to my car in case you need to drive anywhere while I'm gone. Besides, it's good to at least start her up and let her run for a while every few days."

"I doubt I'll drive myself anywhere in the city if that happens, but I'll at least take care of her for you if your job takes you on a long business trip."

"Good." Erwin spotted the drive-through burger place that he and Hange sometimes liked to order from for lunch, and he pulled in. "Hungry? The hamburgers here are really good, and they have a lower calorie count than chain places."

"Yeah, I could go for a bite," agreed Levi.

Erwin drove up to the digital menu and gave his lover time to read it and figure out what he wanted. When Levi was ready, Erwin called out to the intercom and made their order. Levi went with the same thing Erwin was having, except he ordered a lemonade rather than a shake. They collected their dinner and moved on to Erwin's apartment. Once there, they brought Levi's luggage up with them and settled in to eat.

Erwin noticed Levi watching him thoughtfully through the meal. When they both finished eating their burgers and fries, he put all the wrappings in the paper sack it had come in and threw it away.

"Something on your mind, lover?"

Levi stayed silent a moment longer, and then he spoke up. "You haven't said anything more to me about those toys you bought a while back."

Erwin met his gaze. "You mean the cuffs and the..."

"The vibrator and blindfold," finished Levi for him. "Yeah. Have you lost interest in that or what?"

Erwin gave him a dry look. "As if I would have forgotten. No, Levi, I was just leaving the subject up to you to bring up again."

"I see." Levi appeared to contemplate it for a moment, and then he nodded. "All right. Let's try it out."

Erwin hid his excitement well. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, but I think we should share them between us."

Erwin frowned a little. "I don't understand."

"I'll let you cuff me," explained Levi, "even blindfold me. You've got to be the one to use the vibrator, though."

Erwin tried to keep a straight face. "So you want me to have it inside of me while we have sex?"

"That's right." Levi smirked, looking him up and down. "I think it would be pretty hot. If I'm using it, you won't be able to fuck me while it's inside me. If _you're_ using it, however, it could make things more interesting."

In spite of himself, Erwin was intrigued. "I have to admit, it's an interesting idea. However..." he trailed off, unwilling to admit to his thoughts.

"However?" pressed Levi. He circled around the island counter to approach the taller male. "What's the matter, Smith? Afraid of putting something up your ass?"

Erwin's posture stiffened a little at the suggestion. "That's an exaggerated way to put it. I do have some past experience with being penetrated, you know."

"Then there shouldn't be an issue," Levi pointed out, "or don't you trust me?"

Erwin checked a sigh. If Levi trusted him enough to allow him to cuff and blindfold him, then he certainly owed the same courtesy back to him. Besides, he couldn't expect his lover to forever be open to trying things he wanted to do if he couldn't compromise for Levi in return.

"You're right," allowed the blond. "In all fairness, I should be willing to try it."

Levi tilted his head. "Are you though? Or is this just coming from a place of obligation?"

Erwin cupped Levi's chin, and he bent over to give him a kiss on the lips. "I'm willing, Levi. I only hesitated because it's been so long, and I honestly don't know how I might react."

Levi curved his hands around and behind the bigger man, giving his bottom a squeeze. "All you've got to do is speak up if it hurts or if it's too uncomfortable, just like you're always telling me."

"I know." Erwin put his hands on Levi's waist. "Let's allow the meal to settle before we go to bed."

"Good idea."

* * *

It really _was_ a good idea on Erwin's part to wait until their food was digested before engaging in kinky sex play. Levi's stomach was full of butterflies when they retired to the blond's bedroom and got started. He knew how to prep someone for penetration, of course. He'd become rather an expert at doing it to himself when he didn't have the patience for much foreplay and just wanted to fuck. He'd prepped another twink the one time Levi ever had a threesome with one of his exes, too.

This was different. This was Erwin. This had to be the most balanced relationship he'd ever had in terms of power dynamics. Even though he was the one getting fucked all the time, Levi never felt a loss of control in their interactions. He submitted to Erwin yes, but Erwin also submitted to him. It was a refreshing change from what he'd been used to over the years.

Still, he hesitated after oiling his fingers up. He stared down at his prone lover, who lay naked on his stomach on the bed. Levi had never prepped a guy like Erwin before. It was stupid to worry about it, because on the inside they were all the same.

"Okay, I'm going to start," he informed the blond, swallowing. "Try not to clench up, all right?"

Erwin nodded, his cheek resting on his folded arms. "I'm ready."

Levi spread some of the warmed up oil over the pucker between his companion's ass cheeks, careful to be liberal enough to get it good and lubed without making too much of a mess. They'd had the foresight to lay a towel over the bed just in case, to avoid having a big cleanup to do afterwards.

Erwin exhaled slowly as Levi massaged the tight flesh, and to his credit, he didn't flinch or make a sound when the smaller man entered him slowly with his first finger. Levi pumped it for a little while, feeling around for the spongy lump of his prostate. Erwin's was located deeper in than Levi was used to; he had to insert his middle finger as well to find and touch it. Once he did, he got a reaction out of his partner. He glanced up from his task and watched Erwin's face when Levi heard him gasp softly. He didn't question him or stop, but he was diligent about monitoring the bigger man's reactions for any sign of pain.

Erwin made a soft, low sound as Levi curled his fingers inside of him...a sound of pleasure. Encouraged, Levi kept it up. With his other hand, he reached out for the bottle of oil and he popped the cap with his thumb. Manipulating the container deftly, he lubed up the fingers of his left hand before capping the bottle again. Lifting up from his position between Erwin's spread legs, Levi arose to his knees and bent over a little so that he could access himself.

This was the tricky part, but he'd done it before. Levi began to prepare himself while still working Erwin loose with his other hand. He bit his lip on a groan, a little frustrated that he couldn't reach his sweet spot in his current position. No matter, though; Erwin would soon be making up for that with his cock.

Levi concentrated on getting them both loosened up and lubed. He spread and scissored his fingers until Erwin was panting and relaxed enough around the digits to take the butt plug. He then stopped what he was doing to get the toy out of the box to coat it liberally with the lubricant.

"Keep doing what you were doing a minute ago," advised Levi, spreading Erwin's cheeks with his thumb and forefinger as he took aim with the plug. "Here it comes, blondie."

Erwin went still, calming his breathing. He was very cooperative about the whole thing, despite what Levi perceived as misgivings he'd expressed earlier. Levi was gentler and more careful than he'd ever been before as he eased the plug in, little by little. He rubbed Erwin's bottom and paused when the blond grunted, and he waited for him to relax again before resuming. It was pretty hot to watch the object slowly sink into his lover's tight ass, watch the entrance expand around the girth of it.

"Is it in yet?" Erwin bore a slight flush to his handsome features, and the way the half-submerged butt plug quivered suggested he was getting restless with need.

"Not all the way. Just relax." Levi toyed with the device a little, pulling it out and then sliding it back in halfway. He smirked when Erwin made a frustrated sound and quivered. He would have liked to keep it up, but Levi was getting impatient himself and his ass was throbbing for Erwin's cock. He went for the home stretch and he rubbed his lover's bottom as he pushed the plug in all the way until it was fully seated.

"Okay blondie, it's all the way in," announced Levi. He strapped the censor device connected to the cord around Erwin's left thigh to keep it in place. Refraining from turning it on just yet, Levi stretched out beside his lover on his back. He reached out to stroke Erwin's shoulder, watching him closely. "How does it feel?"

"Strange, but not altogether unpleasant," came the truthful answer from the blond. Erwin rolled onto his side slowly, and his eyes raked over Levi's reclined nudity.

Levi purposely arched his back and stretched. "So how do you want me?"

* * *

Erwin couldn't immediately answer the question asked of him. He could only stare at Levi, distracted both by the inviting pose he was in and the unfamiliar sensation of the plug in his ass. It took a couple of seconds for him to gather his wits and respond. He scooted closer, swept a hand over the younger man's body possessively, and then pushed at Levi's hip.

"Roll onto your stomach."

Levi complied with the suggestion, and Erwin retrieved the handcuffs. He got his companion to lift up so that he was in a prostrate position with his ass up, and he gave each cheek a little squeeze. "Put your wrists together in front of you, on the pillow."

As soon as Levi complied, Erwin clamped the cuffs on and tested to be sure they were tight enough not to slip without cutting off circulation. That done, he got the blindfold and he fitted it over Levi's eyes, adjusting the strap to make it snug on him. He left the controller for the vibrator in the other male's hands to allow Levi to decide when to turn it on and how high to set it.

Once Levi was positioned as desired, Erwin took the precaution of lubing up and fingering him for a few moments, aware that while Levi had done some prepping himself, his fingers were much smaller. It didn't take a lot of time to get him ready; Levi had done a good job at exercising himself loose. Erwin took a deep breath before getting on his knees behind his lover and entering him. Levi grunted, fumbled with the vibrator remote and clicked it on.

Erwin went still with surprise initially, and then he had the nagging urge to squirm. Levi had positioned that thing inside of him a little _too_ well; it was pressing right against his prostate, buzzing away merrily. The blond's jaw tightened, and his breath hissed between his teeth. He shoved the rest of the way into his companion a bit more roughly than intended, drawing a hitching gasp from Levi.

This wasn't going to last for long. Erwin knew it as soon as the tingling jolts started rolling through his pelvic area. He uttered a low, breathy curse and started moving, cupping Levi's hip with one hand and reaching under to stroke him off with the other. He could tell by the sounds Levi was making that he was hurting him a little, and Erwin tried to get back in control of himself and be more careful.

It didn't help when Levi moaned his name and started rocking back into his thrusts. Even less helpful was the smaller man's decision to slide the switch on the toy's controller up more, intensifying the vibrations inside of Erwin.

"Levi," groaned Erwin, helpless to stop himself from bucking sharply against him. "That thing is going to shred my composure."

Panting heavily, Levi felt along the remote for the switch. He slid it back down a little, and then he let go of it to squeeze the pillow. "H-how's that? Better? Or did I...just turn it up more by accident? Can't see what I'm doing."

"It's better," breathed Erwin, though he was still doubtful he was going to last long. It was still humming steadily, and the sensation was both pleasurable and somewhat maddening. Erwin clenched his teeth, started yanking Levi back into his pumps.

"Ah!"

"Sorry," rasped the blond. "Too hard?"

"No, you knocked my head against the headboard," informed Levi.

Seeing that he'd inadvertently slid Levi closer to the top of the bed in his vigor, Erwin scooted back a little and pulled Levi with him. He hastily grabbed the other pillow and placed it up against the headboard as a cushioning precaution against accidentally knocking Levi unconscious while he was fucking him.

Levi's exclamations and moans came faster and louder. Evidently he forgave him for the head bump. Erwin kept stroking him, getting desperate to ensure the smaller man got off before he finished. It was a close call. Erwin's balls started tightening up, and he was sure that for the first time he was going to reach arrival too fast and have to satisfy Levi through other means. When Levi gave a breathless shout and tensed up, Erwin thanked his lucky stars. They'd both come at almost precisely the same time.

"Damn," wheezed Erwin when he could find the breath to speak. He was still twitching a bit inside the other male, and the vibrator was driving him insane. He reached for the forgotten remote and turned it off. Too much more of that, and he'd keep humping Levi even though he was going soft now.

Levi ducked his head to tug the blindfold down around his neck. He twisted a bit to look back at Erwin, a blush of passion still coloring his pale cheeks. "You okay there?"

Erwin took a calming breath and nodded. "That was interesting."

Levi waited for the blond to withdraw from him before rolling onto his back. His chest heaved with his labored breath. "Interesting in a good way, or bad?"

"Good in some of the sensations it gave me," clarified Erwin, "bad in that it made me finish so quickly."

Levi reached out to trace Erwin's pectorals as he laid down beside him. "You might not have lasted as long as usual, but you were as good as ever. I think for our first try with this sort of thing, we didn't do half bad."

Erwin winced a little as he reached behind himself and worked the invading plug out. He set it aside on the towel laid out over the bed, and he propped himself up a little on one arm to have a look at Levi's head.

"I also tried to give you a concussion," he said dryly, feeling for lumps. "I apologize for that."

"It didn't hit hard," assured Levi. "Just startled me a little. Don't worry."

Erin put an arm around him to draw him close. "So long as you got more pleasure out of it than pain. Did it bother you too much to wear the blindfold and cuffs?"

Levi glanced at the silver bindings still fastened to his wrists. "I expected it to a little. That being said, it actually turned me on. Maybe having control over the remote as a compromise helped me get into it more. Made me feel more secure, you know?"

Erwin smiled. He was faintly surprised that Levi hadn't demanded the handcuffs come off yet. "I can see how that would help. I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"So you'd want to do something like this again?" Levi pressed closer to him, and he put his arms around Erwin's throat. The cool metal of the cuffs rested against the back of the older male's neck.

"If you're willing to. We may need to make some adjustments so that I can have more staying power, though. A lower setting on the toy and use of a condom the next time, maybe."

"How high did I turn it up?" Levi wondered.

"It was on seven when I turned off the remote," answered the blond. "You must have turned it all the way up to ten before I banged your head."

Levi grimaced a little. "Whoops. That's not a good setting for a novice."

Erwin raised a brow. "A novice, am I?"

"When it comes to having things that vibrate up your ass, yeah." Levi smirked at him. "Maybe you've played around in the past, but you said yourself it's been a while and you weren't sure how you'd react. If we do this again, we shouldn't go above five the next time and maybe skip the blindfold so I can see the numbers."

"Hmm, I see your point." Erwin lowered his mouth to Levi's for a lingering kiss, fencing with his tongue for a moment before withdrawing. He couldn't lift up too much since Levi's arms were still around his neck and his wrists cuffed together. "Do you want the cuffs off, now?"

"Oh. Yeah." Levi seemed faintly puzzled, releasing his hold on Erwin to stare at the handcuffs adorning his wrists. "Huh. I hardly noticed they were still on."

* * *

The day of their trip came, and the couple loaded up Erwin's car with their luggage and some things for the road before heading out. Levi even drove for a little while, once they got out of heavy traffic and on the open highway. He only did it to give Erwin a break, and when they stopped to get lunch, he switched back with him. Unfortunately they got a bit lost. Somehow they took a wrong exit, and Erwin dug out a road map from his glove box.

"We need highway 82," informed Erwin. "We're on 90, so it shouldn't be too difficult to get back on course. Can you look on that map and try to navigate for me?"

Levi frowned, looked at the map, looked at the satellite navigation on the dash, and then cast a confused look at his boyfriend. "Why not just use the navigator?"

"I don't always trust those things," excused Erwin.

Levi shook his head. "You need to get with the technology, old man. Look, I'll just enter the highway we're trying to get in here and it'll take us right to it."

Levi fiddled with the touch screen on the dash, trying to work out how to operate it.

"I think the map would be more reliable," insisted Erwin. "It's a new one, and there's been construction on these highways since I updated my GPS."

"It'll be fine," Levi stubbornly argued. "Look, I got it entered in now. We've just got to take this next exit coming up in two miles and—"

"Levi, that will take us off the side of a bridge. Unless you want this to be a very short vacation with a crashing end, I don't think we should follow the GPS instructions here."

Levi squinted at the screen, looked at the road ahead and saw the bridge coming up that Erwin was talking about. It was a long bridge over a body of water, and Erwin was right; there didn't appear to be any exit ramps leading off of it.

"Oh. Shit. All right, fine. I'll see if I can figure out what exit we should take by the map."

Erwin was grinning, and Levi gave him an askew sullen glance. "Don't be so smug, blondie. If you'd updated your GPS before we left it would have been fine."

"Perhaps, but it's also possible that people depend too much on technology."

"Tch." Levi unfolded the map and straightened it out to locate their route. "All right, there should be another rest stop after the bridge. We can get off there and turn around. Looks like we'll have to take a side road we missed to get to the highway we're after."

Erwin nodded. "Another break to stretch a little might be nice as well."

* * *

They stopped again at a rest area, used the bathroom and had some refreshment. Levi took the opportunity to have a smoke while Erwin checked the air in the tires. Once they were set, they got back on the road and Erwin looked for a fuel station to fill up at. They were behind schedule and losing daylight, but he was confident that they would make it to their destination before nightfall. Once there, they could either hit the casino, go to dinner and a show or just take it easy in their suite for the first night. Erwin wasn't terribly picky about which; his main reason for planning this trip was for him and Levi to get away for a while together.

Erwin glanced over at his companion after spotting a gasoline station up ahead. Levi was curled up in a ball in his seat with his sunglasses on, and the eyewear was slightly crooked on his face. Erwin saw that his eyes were closed, so he waited until he pulled up to the fuel station to speak to him.

"Levi, we're stopping for a moment," announced Erwin, giving his lover's shoulder a squeeze to rouse him. "Do you want anything from inside?"

Levi shifted and stretched, accidentally knocking his shades off in the process. "Where are we?"

"About two hours from Carlton Beach and the strip."

Levi looked around at their environment, and he picked up his shades to put them back in his jacket pocket. "I think I'm good. Feels like it should be later than it is."

"Keep napping if you want," suggested Erwin. "You should lay the seat back to get more comfortable. I'll be right back."

Levi yawned into his hand. "Yeah. Is that pillow back there?"

Erwin reached between the front seats for the pillow in question, and he gave it to Levi with a kiss. "Here you are. I'll wake you when we get there."

"Okay."

Levi adjusted the seat, fluffed the pillow and curled up again. Erwin tucked the smaller man's jacket around him before getting out of the car to fuel up. He bought a coffee for himself inside the station, and an iced tea for Levi in case he woke up thirsty. Once he was back in the car and buckled in, he got back onto the highway and kept the radio turned down low so as not to disturb his companion.

Levi mumbled in his sleep, squirming to get comfortable. He migrated towards Erwin's warmth gradually until he was leaning against the bigger man with his pillow resting against Erwin's shoulder. The blond glanced down at his napping companion, and he smiled. He put his arm around Levi, debating on whether he should rouse him again to see the sunset they were driving into. Erwin decided against it, figuring that with the weather forecast he'd checked, they should see more nice sunsets before going home.

"Mmm." Levi stirred again, his head lifting off the pillow and Erwin's shoulder. "Sunset?"

"Yes. We're nearly there." Erwin gave him a squeeze. "It's nice, isn't it?"

Levi rubbed his eyes and looked at the array of colors in the sky. "Not bad." He looked at Erwin, studying him. "I like looking at you more though."

With that said, Levi pulled his pillow off of Erwin and laid his cheek on the blond man's shoulder.

Erwin swallowed, nearly overwhelmed by a feeling of happiness and contentment. He had no material proof to confirm that he and Levi had lived another life together. He didn't know how long they had in this one. One thing Erwin Smith _was_ sure about though, was that he'd found the one he'd been searching for. Whatever happened with ex lovers, work or school, this relationship was going to last.

* * *

-The End


End file.
